So Sudden & New
by it's been fun
Summary: What happens when Mr. Schue makes Rachel & Quinn sing Wicked? Oh, Faberry. And side Brittana!
1. What Is This Feeling?

**Disclaimer:** Glee. It's not mine.

Quinn had never seen Wicked. She didn't know much about it.

But she was pretty sure, not 100% sure, but she was fairly certain that at the end of _'What Is This Feeling?'_, Glinda and Elphaba were _not_ supposed to make out. Right? ..._right?_

But that's what they were doing. Well, Quinn and Rachel anyway. At the very end of the song, neither girls could help themselves. It was like gravity, clearly not being defied, was pulling them together forcefully. Maybe it was all the suppressed sexual tension finally rising. Maybe they just got into the song a bit too much. But there they were. Lips locking and tongues touching. Not to mention the roaming hands and bodies pressed firmly together.

They stayed that way for a while, not quite remembering that they were in a room full of glee members and a teacher. But it felt _so...good, _Quinn decided, especially with her left hand making it's way through Rachel's long hair. Everybody's jaw had dropped and silence grew upon them until somebody's brain finally made a firm thought.

"I thought Gelphie only existed in my head," Kurt whispered to Mercedes.

"Pinch me," Puck said quietly to Santana, which broke her out of whatever sort of daze she was in.

Mr. Schuester knew that it might have been a bad idea to pair them together for this song, but he thought it was for different reasons. Never would he have imagined this outcome. He quickly averted his eyes.

"Quinn!" Santana yelled at the blonde.

The head Cheerio's eyes shot open and she immediately ceased all movement. Slowly backing away from the shorter girl, the severity of what had just happened hit her like a ton of bricks. She looked at Rachel whose eyes were sympathetic and comforting at the same time. Her eyes alone were saying _'Don't run.' _

But that's exactly what Quinn did. She ran out of the room, tears threatening to spill from her hazel eyes.

"You're so subtle, Santana." Rachel oozed with sarcasm before storming out of the room like many times before.

Quinn locked herself in the bathroom, choosing the the biggest stall at the end and sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest. '_In through the nose, out through the mouth', _she thought. But the tears didn't stop. She should have stayed home today like she wanted to even though if she had, Santana would be the one to take her place at tonight's game. She wouldn't give her the satisfaction. So here she was.

Rachel stood outside the bathroom, knowing Quinn was inside. She didn't want to push the girl into talking. She knew how it felt. But she also knew that it felt a whole lot better once everything was out in the open. She kept in mind that this was Quinn Fabray. Possibly the most complex girl in school. Of course Rachel was probably the only one to see that.

_'Rachel fucking Berry!' _Quinn's mind was racing. Not only had she made out with a girl, but it _had_ to be Rachel. Of course. It would have been no big deal if it were anyone else. After all, she had seen Brittany and Santana make out several times before and she never judged them. That's not how her brain worked. She was actually very accepting of their relationship.

So, no, it wasn't the fact that she kissed a girl that was bothering her. It was the fact that it was Rachel Berry and she _liked _it. She liked kissing Rachel Berry. A lot. Her whole body felt warm when Rachel's lips were on hers. And she wasn't sure if that was okay.

"Quinn?" Rachel said quietly, opening the bathroom door. She noticed two white shoes sticking out of the side of the last stall.

_'She would come after me...' _

"Quinn, open the door please."

Her body acted against any reasonable thought she had and she lifted a leg and unlocked the door with her foot. It slowly swung open.

"Why are you crying?" Rachel rushed down to her side and wiped her tears away.

Quinn wondered why when people asked what was wrong or why she was crying...she cried more. 

Rachel immediately pulled her into a hug and suddenly Quinn felt safe.

It was wrong. It was just _so _wrong. Quinn shouldn't feel safe in Rachel's arms. Rachel's arms, realistically, shouldn't even be around Quinn. She couldn't stop thinking about how Rachel's touch was oddly comforting. And then she couldn't stop thinking that she should run away again.

"We should probably talk about this," Rachel said softly.

Quinn just shook her head and spilled more tears. She was absolutely terrified. She didn't want to let Rachel know how she suddenly felt and that she wanted to kiss her again. Quinn wouldn't have it. She needed to keep herself together. After all, she's Quinn Fabray. Nobody was supposed to make her feel like this.

"Please leave," she whispered.

Rachel's eyes saddened and Quinn noticed.

"What?" Rachel heard her, but asked nevertheless, hoping she'd have changed her mind within seconds.

"Please, Rachel. Just go."

And she did. But not before pressing her lips lightly on Quinn's cheek.

That night, Quinn lay on her bed thinking. She thought about how Rachel made her feel and how she didn't want to feel that way anymore and how she'd do anything to make it stop.

Not a mile away, Rachel lay on her bed too. Listening to the Wicked soundtrack (_'What Is This Feeling?' _on repeat of course) and thinking. Except she thought of hope. Hope that Quinn finally felt the same way she did. Maybe. 

-  
**So, I think I know where I'm going with this. But I am completely open to suggestions. Please review! Reviews keep me completely motivated. I'm thrilled to get them. Also, sorry that it's so short, but I just needed this to get going. Thank you! **


	2. Santana Knows Best

As Quinn got ready for tonight's football game, she messed up her makeup three times, put her skirt on backwards and missed a large chunk of her hair while attempting to put it into that perfect ponytail she usually sports. _'Dammit, Berry!'_

Just then, her phone rang. Her heart jumped at the thought that it might be Rachel. And then she felt nauseous.

_**Incoming Call: Santana**_

Quinn hesitantly picked her phone up from her bed.

"Hello?"

"Q, what the _fuck!" _Santana yelled into the phone. The blonde just rolled her eyes.

"What do you want?" Quinn knew but asked anyway.

"I wanna know why you totally made out with RuPaul!"

Quinn could tell that Santana was half disgusted and half amused. But really, she couldn't tell Santana why she kissed Rachel because she didn't even know herself!

"It just sort of happened," she finally said quietly.

And it felt good. But horribly terrifying at the same time. It's not like she's never been kissed before, but kissed like that? It wasn't like kissing Finn, Puck or anyone else for that matter. Kissing Rachel was like tasting pure happiness. She couldn't quite place why it was so much better. It just was...and that scared her more than anything else. Quinn wasn't aware that she was capable of even feeling that way. But until she kissed the tiny brunette did she know that she was missing so much. Every other kiss was boring in comparison. Boring and numb.

"That is _not _an acceptable answer, Quinn. It's a disgusting one. You kissed a midget!"

"Enough with the name calling!" She regretting those words the moment they left her lips.

"Oh. My. God. This is beyond me. See you at the game, Mrs. Man-Hands," Santana said before hanging up without a reply.

Quinn threw her phone on the ground in frustration. _Mrs. Man-Hands?_ This stops now.

She forcefully pulled on her sneakers, tied them tight and flung herself down the stairs and out the door. Pushing Rachel aside in her mind, she got into her car and forced herself to think about the Cheerios routine they'd be performing tonight.  
When she arrived at the game, she wasn't surprised to see Santana waiting for her in the parking lot. The Latina was propped up against her car with a smirk on her face. 

"Leave me alone, Santana," she said, swiftly walking past her, bouncing her curled ponytail.

The other girl grabbed he wrist and swung her around.

"You like her."

It wasn't a question and that scared Quinn.

"I do not!" Desperation for secrecy was dripping in her voice.

"Prove it," Santana said.

_"_How am I supposed to do that? My word isn't good enough?"

Santana thought for a moment before a smile appeared on her face.

"Slushie facial, tonight. In front of everyone," Santana offered.

"S, you know I don't do that anymore," Quinn replied, truthfully. Ever since Beth, she hadn't been tormenting anyone. No names, no slushies, no random glares in the hallway...nothing. It felt good, the whole being nice thing. It worked for her. 

"Plus, what makes you think Rachel would even attend a football game?"

"Because I saw her like five minutes ago with Mercedes and the fairy princess, but that's besides the point. Just do it."

"No," was her simple reply.

"Oh my god, you totally love her."

_Whoa, hang on. When did 'like' become 'love'! _Quinn didn't want to do this. _God,_ she really didn't. Rachel didn't deserve to be humiliated in front of the entire school, she'd done nothing wrong. In fact, she never deserved it. Every single time the head Cheerio ordered jocks to send the sugary iced drink flying into Rachel's face, Quinn would be rushed with guilt because even then she knew she didn't deserve it. But she had an image to keep. Much like she does now. 

"Fine," Quinn said, defeated.

"There's my HBIC." Santana slapped Quinn on the back and ran off towards the field. 

She wasn't sure how much longer she could take this whole 'HBIC' deal if this is how her life continued to play out.

As the game started, Quinn and her squad began cheering, dancing around and doing extreme flips which were probably illegal in competition. As the home team scored their first touchdown, the girls instantly made a giant pyramid, Quinn placed on top. Her eyes scanned the crowd for Rachel who turned out to be easy to find in her bright yellow sweater, jumping up and down as she cheered for her team.

Quinn began to shake which alerted and startled the girls below her. They carefully dismounted and continued on as the 2nd quarter began.

She prayed to God for the Earth to open up and swallow her right there. She didn't even care if it swallowed half of the Cheerios with her. They deserved it, they way they were looking at her. But of course it didn't. And to make things worse, time was moving by fast. At least Quinn thought it was.

The buzzer sounded, signaling halftime and everybody cleared the field. Santana found Quinn immediately and nudged her with her elbow.

"Don't think I forgot," she said to Quinn who was looking ill.

Santana walked over to a few baseball jocks standing by the concessions stand. They were each holding two slushies, both bright red.

_'God, if there's ever a time for an earthquake in Lima, it would be now,' _Quinn thought.

The brunette took little time in bringing the cold drinks to Quinn and shoving them into her hands.

"Go get your girl, Q," Santana said with laughter before pushing her in the right direction.

Quinn began walking in front of the crowd, from bleacher to bleacher and her mind raced.

_'She'll probably think I'm coming to just talk. She won't even know. Oh god. What if she thinks I bought her one of the slushies to drink? Fuck.' _Quinn threw a slushie to the ground, making it look like a total accident as she knew Santana was watching. It didn't matter anyway. The loss of one slushie didn't do anything for the one still in her hand. The one that was about to be dumped all over the tiny diva. She wanted to dump the other one on the ground as well but that would only prove Santana's point: Quinn Fabray likes Rachel Berry. Quinn just wouldn't have it.

As she started walking up the bleachers, on her way to Rachel, Quinn began to cry. Not full on sobs or anything, just a few tears, but tears nonetheless. _'God, forgive me." _But she didn't really want God's forgiveness. She'd want Rachel's.

She pushed her way past the last row of people, to the top of the stands before standing directly in front of Rachel who seemed awfully surprised to see her.

"Quinn!" She said with a bright smile on her face.

Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to comfort the girl for something she hadn't even done yet. She wanted to apologize before dumping the drink all over her head. Instead, she let another tear slide down her cheek as she lifted the slushie and dumped it all over Rachel.

The expression on both of their faces could not be mistaken. Rachel looked like living heartbreak. She just sat there as the slushie dripped onto the ground below. She searched Quinn's eyes. The blonde looked heartbroken too, along with guilty and apologetic. But Rachel didn't care. She could forgive Quinn if it had been any other time. But not after they kissed.

She flew up from her seat and left, clearly crying. Kurt sat there looking stunned.

"I can't believe you, Quinn," Mercedes said before getting up to follow Rachel.

Truth was, Quinn couldn't believe herself. It hurt her more than she thought it would. But she had to, right?

Walking back onto the field, Santana threw her a smile as if to say 'good job'. But Quinn ignored her. At least it was done with. Now she could just put the entire situation behind her. Maybe even pretend like it never happened.

"I have to talk to her," Rachel said, shivering violently.

Mercedes wrapped her hoodie around the small girl. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

As Kurt finally found the two, he sat on the other side of Rachel and put his hand on her knee.

"If it helps, she looked just as hurt as you did," the boy pointed out.

"No, it doesn't help! Why would I feel better knowing that she feels worse?"

"Sorry," he said, backing down.

She stood up away from the two, completely angry at the entire situation.

"No, _I'm_ sorry," she said quietly as she turned to face what seemed to be her only friends. "I shouldn't have snapped at you."

Kurt nodded in acceptance.

"I just know that I have to talk to her. The slushie said a lot but our kiss..."

Her friends looked sad for her.

"Our kiss said so much more." 

**Hello, my beautiful Faberry shippers. I'm so sorry, but I had to slushie Rachel. I hope you understand. Anyway, I promise it gets better from here. Happy, in fact! Thank you so much for the reviews, I appreciate them more than you know. Keep 'em coming! Thanks so much! **


	3. As Long As You're Mine

The guilt was eating Quinn alive.

She sat on her bed after the game, biting the skin on the sides of her fingernails. After splashing Rachel in the face with a bright red, staining liquid, she thought she'd just forget about it and move on. It was a stupid thought, but she had it anyway. But of course all she could think about was Rachel and the girl's face as she ran from the bleachers. Quinn let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and plopped down onto her pillow. Throughout the night she tossed, turned and even fell out of her bed, not getting an ounce of sleep.

Rachel didn't sleep much either. It was the same for Saturday.

Sunday night would have been identical to the other two if it weren't for Judy Fabray's impressive yet scary collection of sleeping pills.

"Quinn, darling, wake up. You're going to be late for school."

The girl groaned before rolling over to see her mom a little too close to her face.

"Jesus!"

"You know how I feel about you using the Lord's name in vain, Quinnie," her mother said simply while tearing the blankets off of her daughter.

Quinn decided the sleeping pill she took was a bit too strong.

"Up, up, up!" Judy grabbed her daughter's hands and pulled her into a sitting position.

"Mom, please." Quinn begged for her mom to go away.

"Fine, but if you're not downstairs in twenty minutes, you're walking to school."

Quinn laughed in her head. Her mother always made threats she could never keep. Nevertheless, Quinn readied herself within fifteen minutes. Five to spare. It's a good thing she showered right before going to sleep.

It wasn't until they were a block away from school that Quinn glanced at the clock on the dash. She did a double-take.

"Mom." Quinn's expression moved from 'I'm-tired' to 'are-you-fucking-kidding-me?'

"Yes, dear?"

"It's 6:50."

"No, Quinn, it's-" her mother glanced down at the clock. "Oh."

"It's 6:50!" She was louder now. "I'm going to school _an hour early!" _

They pulled up to the front entrance of McKinley High.

"I'm so sorry, Quinnie. I'll take you back home," she said as she went to put the car back into drive.

Noticing there was only one other car in the student's parking, Quinn opened her door.

"Forget it," Quinn said, getting out of the car. She could tell her mom felt bed. "It's okay, really."

She gave her mom a little smile before she shut the door. After Quinn's dad had basically been thrown out by her mom (for being a drunk, judgmental asshole), Judy and Quinn had been getting along a lot better. She was trying hard not to give her mother attitude like she used to and Judy was trying to lighten up. It seemed to be working. Her mom honked her horn as a goodbye. Quinn just rolled her eyes and smiled. 

Walking into McKinley, Quinn felt suddenly nervous. She walked down the halls before taking a right into the choir room. If she had eaten breakfast that morning, she would have puked it all up right now.

"Rachel," Quinn said, trying not to startle the girl sitting at the piano.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I saw your car," she replied honestly.

There was a moment of silence, but it wasn't awkward. They were both just thinking of what to say next. Quinn would be damned if she were first to speak. She knew she _should_ be first to speak, but it was like she physically couldn't.

"Quinn, I think you owe me an apology," Rachel finally said in a determined tone. It's not what she really wanted to say but the speech she prepared and memorized was suddenly dismissed at the sight of the blonde girl.

"I know," Quinn replied softly.

"You humiliated me in front of the entire student body! You ruined one of my favorite sweaters!"

It wasn't about the sweater. It really wasn't even about the so called humiliation. Rachel was used to it. It was the fact that Quinn had been the one to throw the slushie.

"I know," Quinn said again. "Well, not the sweater part."

Rachel wanted to smile at that. But she kept a stern face.

"So what do you have to say for yourself?"

Quinn tried desperately not to cry. So far, it was working.

"I'm sorry," she said, stepping closer to Rachel. "I'm sorry I humiliated you, you didn't deserve it. I'm sorry I ruined your sweater. It was one of my favorites too," she admitted without realizing. "I'm sorry I even listened to Santana in the first place, I'm sorry-"

"Santana?" Rachel interrupted.

Quinn just nodded.

"What does she have to do with any of this?" Rachel looked confused and angry at the same time.

She did not want to admit this. "She kinda told me to."

"She told you to dump a slushie over my head?"

Quinn nodded again.

"And you listened? Just like that?"

She didn't care about her tears at this point and let them slide down her pale cheeks.

"I- I didn't want to, it's just-"

"Just stop, Quinn. I don't need to hear it because in the end, it doesn't matter anyway."

"Why doesn't it matter?" Quinn was full on crying at this point. "It _should_ matter. I'm here, I'm apologizing, what do you want me to do?"

Rachel sighed. What she really Quinn to do was just hold her and kiss her...like before. Rachel was right. Their kiss said a lot but maybe it wasn't what Quinn wanted to hear.

"I want you to tell me the _real_ reason, Quinn. The _real_ reason you gave me a slushie facial. Don't blame it on Santana."

That frustrated the taller girl. She wasn't _blaming_ it on anyone but herself! She was just admitting the situation. But she knew Rachel would only be satisfied with a proper answer. An honest answer.

"I was scared!" She all but yelled.

Rachel smiled. Quinn was now exactly where she wanted her.

"Scared of what?" She asked, knowing the answer.

"Of everything!"

"Specifics, Quinn."

Quinn wiped at her falling tears.

"Of you," she whispered.

Rachel inched forward, taking Quinn's hand.

"You're scared of me?"

Quinn tried regaining control of her breathing.

"Well, not of you," she admitted. "Of this." She lifted their hands. "Of how I feel when you touch me – when you're even _near _me."

Rachel reluctantly dropped Quinn's hand and they both instantly missed the contact.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you feel this way," she said sadly.

"No, Rach, it's not...it's just-" She had a thought she couldn't form into words.

"What?" The brunette asked curiously.

"It feels _good," _Quinn said, attaching her hand with Rachel's again. "Scary, but...good."

Her tears slowed.

"I just didn't want to feel it before. I thought it would just go away, so I listened to Santana. I'm stupid, I know. I know I shouldn't have done it and I regret it. I was selfish, I was just thinking of me and what the outcome of this would be for _me. _But then the look on your face after I did it...I couldn't sleep for two days, I felt so guilty. I just wish I could take it back. You didn't deserve it, Rach. You're amazing and I'm sorry it took this for me to realize that. I realize now how childish it was. But I guess it's like a little kid on the playground, throwing rocks at the girl he likes or something."

That's exactly what it was. Nobody's going to think you like somebody if you throw rocks at them. Or slushies in this case.

"You like me?" Rachel interrupted. Quinn was glad she had. She was probably making a fool of herself.

Quinn nodded and Rachel smiled shyly. Although she could have bet money on the fact that Quinn liked her as well, it was just different to hear it out loud. It made it real.

"I like you a lot."

Quinn almost wanted to add a 'but' to her sentence before realizing there would be no point. Looking into Rachel's eyes, She knew no matter which path she took, bumpy or smooth, she'd end up where God intended her to be; with Rachel.

"I like you a lot, too, Quinn," Rachel smiled sweetly, making the other girl blush. Quinn grabbed Rachel's other hand so she was holding them both in front of her.

"So, what now?" Quinn raised an eyebrow, an act that always secretly drove Rachel crazy.

"Go on a date with me," Rachel insisted. The taller girl was slightly taken aback.

"A date?"

"Yes, as in an outing two people share when they're romantically involved."

"Oh, so now we're romantically involved," Quinn said with a smirk that Rachel didn't see.

"Is that not what you meant?" Rachel began to panic. "Have I misinterpreted the entire situation?" She let go of Quinn's hands and put hers firmly at her sides.

The blonde giggled slightly before taking Rachel's hand again, pulling her towards her and resting her other hand on the diva's waist. Both girls immediately felt warm.

"Friday night, seven o'clock. I'll pick you up," Quinn said softly into Rachel's ear before pulling back and looking directly into her eyes. Even her eyes were smiling. Quinn wondered how it was even possible. Rachel was perfect.

Quinn slowly leaned in and lightly pressed her lips on Rachel's before fully claiming them. The kiss was sweet and and promising and it left Rachel feeling weightless.

"Seven it is," she said before kissing Quinn again. The only pulled apart when they heard some students start to pile into the building.

The rest of the day ran smooth: stealing glances from across the room, holding hands under the lunch table and dancing together in Glee which of course didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the club. They didn't think anything of it really. After the slushie ordeal, they could only assume and apology was made and accepted. After all, they had been friends before the _Wicked_ incident. Kinda.

Yes, today was a good day. And Friday would be even better, right? 

* * *

Yaaaay, happiness! Who else is excited for their date? And a bit of fluff? Any suggestions yet? I'm totally open. Keep reviewing, I love hearing from each of you! Seriously, you guys keep me motived. Love love.


	4. Out Tonight

The school week went by at a fantastic pace. Rachel argued that it was fast reasoning that 'time flies when you're having fun' and she was certainly having fun with Quinn making out in the janitor's closet when they were supposed to be in Glee.

* * *

"_Quinn, I will absolutely not risk the entire well being of glee club! They need me!" Rachel was furious that Quinn would even suggest skipping._

_"How are you risking the 'entire well being' by missing it once? It's Wednesday anyway," Quinn argued._

_"Yes, and yesterday was Tuesday and tomorrow is Thursday. I don't see your point."_

_Quinn giggled at the ultimate cuteness that is Rachel Berry. "Wednesday is always our jam session day. Finn gets to bang on drums, Puck gets to play the guitar and Brittany and Mike get to dance wildly. It's just for us to blow off steam and honestly, Rach, I have a better way to blow off steam."_

_Rachel's eyebrow raised in a Fabray fashion before she smirked and let Quinn take her hand.  


* * *

  
_

Quinn, on the other hand, argued that it went by incredibly slow. Waiting for Friday was absolutely killing her. So when Friday finally rolled around, Quinn was untouchable. Well, almost. Quinn certainly wasn't going to complain about Rachel's wandering hands, so long as nobody saw them.

It's not that Quinn was ashamed of her feelings anymore. That's really not the case. How could she be ashamed of something that makes her feel _so _good? But with their past relationships, they Quinn decided it was a good idea to take things slow. Rachel full heartedly agreed. She dove into a relationship with Finn, head first, and look how that ended.

So they were taking things slow. And that was okay with both of them.

"Friday!" Quinn yelled as she walked into school. Naturally, the student body parted like the Red Sea but didn't hide their confused faces. Nobody questioned her outburst. Even though Quinn was typically nicer to everybody, she was still the head cheerleader. And when she decided that she would no longer continue her duties in ordering slushie facials, glaring at random freshman in the hallway or calling people by horrid names, Santana would. And it's widely know that Santana and Quinn are best friends and have been since kindergarten. Thus, questioning Quinn was almost like questioning Santana...which nobody dared to do.

"Today is glorious," Quinn smiled, approaching her best friend.

Santana just raised her eyebrow in question. "Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not," Quinn snorted.

"Oh god, now I have to know," Santana gushed, shutting her locker and turning towards Quinn, who just smiled nauseatingly in her direction.

"I have a date tonight," she beamed. She knew she shouldn't have told Santana that. It was too soon for her to be finding out about her and Rachel. After all, Santana was still referring to the girl as Man-Hands.

"Ew, with who?" Santana's eyes widened in curiosity.

"_That-_ Quinn paused for dramatic effect. "-is something I can't tell you." And she turned and walked away.

"Just because I'm not supposed to know doesn't mean I won't find out!" Santana yelled after her. "Fuck," she said under her breath. Santana hated secrets with a burning passion from Hell. She ran to class as fast as she could, taking a seat next to Brittany.

"Hey, B. Wanna play a game?"

Brittany turned her head and smiled innocently. "What kind?"

"Rachel!"

The small girl turned around to a glowing Quinn.

"It's Friday," Quinn simply stated.

"Yes, and yesterday was Thursday and tomorrow is – oh, hey, today is Friday!" She finished with a goofy grin.

Quinn nodded, still smiling.

The day continued going on at a slow pace. Even Rachel had to admit it was slow. She couldn't wait to get out of there, go home and prepare for what was to be the perfect night.

During Glee, at the end of the school day, Quinn sat nervously, tapping her foot at a rapid pace which didn't go unnoticed by Rachel who found it adorable that she was so excited. Rachel was thrilled too, of course, but kept her composure. Acting really was one of her strong suits. Quinn on the other hand was stealing glances left and right and gazing lustfully at Rachel while she practiced her duet with Mercedes.

"And I guess that's it. Have a great weekend, guys!" Mr. Schue _finally_ finished. Quinn seriously thought he never would. She even momentarily thought that he knew she had a date with Rachel and was purposely trying to sabotage it because Santana paid him to do so. It was a solid thought at the time, but as the students flooded out of the room, she laughed to herself.

"Lock up, okay girls?"

"Of course, Mr. Schue!" Rachel replied.

He nodded a goodbye to them before leaving.

"I seriously thought he'd _never_ leave," Quinn said, getting out of her seat and rushing over to Rachel. She pulled her up and into her, hugging her tightly. She inhaled the sweet scent of Rachel's shampoo (Herbal Essence's Drama Clean) before burying her face into her neck, kissing it lightly.

Rachel's eyes fluttered shut at the soft touch. "Eager, are we?" She whispered before feeling Quinn nod into her.

"And I'm even more eager for tonight," she said, pulling away from Rachel to look into her deep brown eyes. "Speaking of, is it okay if we change it from 7:30 to 6:00?"

"That throws my schedule completely off, Quinn."

She kind of knew she'd respond with that.

"But that's okay. Six it is." Rachel lightly before linking her arm with Quinn's.

"Drive me home?" Rachel asked, leading them to the door, locking and closing it behind them as they walked out.

"Anything for you," Quinn replied, fully aware of how much she reminded herself of a cheesy romantic. "Just let me quick run to my locker and grab my bag?" Rachel nodded and watched Quinn run down the hall and turn a corner.

"Quinn!" A tall, blonde, Cheerio came rushing towards her with a big smile on her face. Quinn grabbed her bag from her locker and shut it, turning towards Brittany. "You're almost as hard to find as Waldo."

"Hey Britt, what's up?"

"San said to find you," Brittany simply stated.

"Did she happen to mention why?" Quinn looked confused when Brittany didn't continue.

Brittany looked up as if the answer would be written on the ceiling.

"No, she just said to find you. Like Carmen Santa Eggo or something."

"I think you mean San Diego."

Brittany just laughed and grabbed Quinn's hand before dragging her down the deserted hallway. Not five seconds later, Santana rounded a corner and slammed right into the two, knocking them both over before falling herself.

"What the hell!" Quinn yelled at Santana.

"B," Santana gasped. "I didn't mean now," she said, trying to breathe. She got up quickly before quickly grabbing Brittany's hands, dragging her up and out of the building.

Quinn's eyes followed them out of the building. "Seriously, what the hell," she repeated to herself.

After Quinn had dropped Rachel off at home, giving her time to prepare for their date, Quinn rushed home herself and jumped in the shower. Twice. Nothing could be taken to chance. She wanted this to be absolutely perfect for Rachel.

She had the entire night planned. She even made a list! But only after Rachel insisted she do so and it was the best damn idea, Quinn decided because things that sounded great in her head looked awful on paper. As to why, she had no idea, but suddenly 'dinner and a movie' had 'cliché' stamped all over it in bright red letters. But this was Lima so thinking big didn't really get you far. Dinner remained on the list however movie didn't make the cut. It was easily replaced with a walk in the park she had found the next town over. Not much, but she thought it was definitely more romantic than sitting in a theatre full of teenagers who didn't obey the 'Please Silence Your Cellphones Now' bit before the previews.

Just as Quinn had finished getting ready, she glanced at her clock perched upon her dresser. _Shit!_ It was 5:50.

Quinn bolted down the stairs, grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter, rambled to her mom about going out for the night and flung herself out the door, leaving it open about a foot. Judy just rolled her eyes and closed it.

_'Oh god, oh god, oh god,' _Quinn thought as she pulled into Rachel's driveway. She knocked on the door just as the church bells struck six times. Silently praising Jesus, she tucked her hair behind her ear and waited. Almost instantly, the door swung open with force. She was yanked into the home without warning.

"Wow, Rach, you look amazing," she immediately gushed at the girl who was wearing a black baby doll style dress (with a little less flare at the bottom) that complimented Quinn's pale yellow one perfectly.

"As do you," she said, quickly kissing Quinn on the cheek.

Quinn glanced around the living room she was led into, taking in the sight. This was a real _home_. Not like Quinn's. There were family photos everywhere but mostly there were ones of Rachel, from baby pictures to current.

"Quinn, I'd like to you meet my dads," Rachel said proudly.

"Pleased to meet you," Quinn said, shaking the hand of one Mr. Berry while the other waited before pulling her into a hug. He was just so _thrilled_ that Rachel was going on a date with someone other than Finn Hudson. Quinn just giggled into the hug.

"Daddy, please don't squish my date," Rachel said, prying the poor girl out of his tight embrace.

Quinn felt more love from Rachel's dad within seconds than she had her own father in years. A sad thought, but it couldn't bring her down. Not from this.

"Anyway, we should be going. Our reservation is at 6:30 and I refuse to be late. Ready?"

Quinn couldn't even respond as Rachel grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the door. "Bye dad, bye daddy!" Quinn turned and quickly smiled and waved at Rachel's dads before they were completely out of sight.

"Have a good time!"

* * *

"Your dads are really nice," Quinn gushed as she put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway being sure to be extra careful since she could see Rachel's parents looking out the window at them leaving. They waved until the car turned a corner.

"Aren't they?" Rachel smiled in agreement.

The car ride continued smoothly, the pair talking about everything and nothing until Quinn's phone rang. Her mother always lectured her about cellphones while driving but Quinn decided she didn't care, pulling the phone out of her coat pocket.

_**Incoming Call: Brittany**_

The last time she ignored a call from Brittany, she had a four and a half minute long voicemail from the girl who couldn't even remember why she called in the first place.

She flipped open her phone and pressed it to her ear. "Hey, B."

"Quinn! Where are you?" She abruptly asked.

"Um, I'm driving down Elm, why?"

"'Cause I wanna win the game," Brittany said before muttering a thank you and hanging up on Quinn.

Quinn placed her phone back in her pocket with a puzzled look on her face. "They are up to something."

Rachel didn't even have to ask. She knew if it was Brittany on the phone, the second half of the duo was Santana. She shuddered at the thought. Santana was never up to anything that could even be remotely passed as good. But that didn't matter because she was currently on a date with Quinn Fabray. Santana couldn't phase her.

"I swear to god, if she's here with Finnessa, I'm going to shit enough bricks to build my own mausoleum," Santana said, putting the car into park a few away from Quinn's.

"Do I win yet?" Brittany whispered, referencing the game Santana had mentioned.

"Yeah, B, you definitely won. This round at least. Round two is near," she replied, desperately trying to search the crowd inside through the window for Quinn and her mystery date. "Whatever, I'll just catch them on the way out," Santana said to herself.

"Do I get a prize?"

Santana looked over to her girlfriend and softly smiled a smile that only Brittany gets to witness. The brunette nodded before leaning in and lightly kissing her glossed lips. Chase kisses turned to passionate which turned into a heavy make out scene in the backseat of Santana's car...as usual. They never could help themselves but to get carried away with kisses. The only thing that broke them apart was the sound of Quinn's laugh. Santana immediately pushed herself off of Brittany and looked out the backseat window. However, the only thing she saw was the passenger side door close and Quinn climbing into the driver's side.

"Fuck!" Santana yelled at herself. "We missed them!"

As Quinn started the car, Santana jumped (a little too quickly, kicking Brittany in the stomach) into the front seat and started hers as well. She let Quinn make it around the corner before she tore out of the parking lot, tires screeching.

"B, can you see through their back window?" The blonde shook her head in response. They weren't close enough to even make out an outline of people inside but if they got any closer, Quinn would immediately recognize the car, especially with the little cloud-shaped antenna ball that Brittany insisted she put on her car. So when they finally arrived at the park, Santana made sure to park on the next street over, making the decision to get out of the car a good ten minutes after Quinn.

"Quinn, this is absolutely beautiful!" Rachel exclaimed as she jumped out of the car.

God was looking over her. That had to be it.

The park's trees were decorated with strings of white lights while at the far end of the park, Quinn could hear a man's soft voice accompanied by an acoustic guitar. As the song ended, she heard light clapping.

"A concert in the park?" Rachel turned towards her girlfriend, smiling.

Quinn just smiled, not wanting to give out the fact that she had no idea the event was being held tonight. Rachel took Quinn's hand, lacing their fingers together and led them to the gazebo where the man was just starting his next song.

Rachel was surprised to see that there were only about ten to fifteen people around, sitting on benches, dancing or admiring the performer who began singing 'Crimson & Clover' into the microphone.

"I love this song," Quinn breathed into Rachel's ear before pulling her body closer, placing her hands on Rachel's lower back. Butterflies danced in Rachel's stomach as she looped her arms around Quinn's neck.

"Some of the best talents go unnoticed," Rachel said, not taking her gaze off of Quinn, who didn't know if she had been referencing the park performer or her.

"Except yours," Quinn giggled into her words. "You make it very known."

"Well, someone has to," she said in a defensive tone.

"I never said it was a bad thing. It's one of the reasons I like you so much. You're so sure of yourself and you have every reason to be. You're flawless," she admitted quietly.

"I'm sure of you too, Quinn," Rachel added confidently. "You're beautiful, you know that?"

Quinn blushed in response.

"I mean it, Quinn. I wish you'd let other people see how amazing you are," she said before resting her head on Quinn's shoulder. "But I'm perfectly content keeping you all to myself."

And with that Quinn placed soft fingers on Rachel's chin, lifting her head up to look into her eyes. A chill ran through Rachel's body as Quinn's eyes searched hers.

It was a perfect moment.

Quinn brought her lips to Rachel's in a delicate kiss before tracing her hand from Rachel's shoulder to her hand placed behind Quinn's neck. Hands tied, she led Rachel away from the tiny crowd. "Let's go for a walk."

Rachel wanted to to gush to Quinn about how much she adored walks in the park but she was terrified that if she started, she wouldn't stop. When she was nervous, she tended to ramble. Well, actually, she liked to ramble regardless of the feeling. But she refused to tonight.

"B, come on!" Santana hissed at the girl who was searching the outside of the woods next to the pond for a duck she may or may not have discovered.

By this time, the sun was almost completely set, leaving nothing but an orange tint at the line of the trees, but the breeze was still warm, not entirely surprising for mid-September, but a blessing nonetheless. Rachel and Quinn headed down a concrete path in a lightly wooded area where the string of white lights continued.

Santana peered across the park in search for Quinn and her date, yet found nothing. She looked behind her and also found nothing.

"Britt?" Santana looked around the pond. Nothing. "Brittany!" She dared to raise her voice.

She rolled her eyes and sat down on a bench.

"Quinn?" Rachel stopped them next to the largest tree. Quinn turned to face her. _'God, she's beautiful,' _Quinn thought as the lights illuminated Rachel's face.

"I really don't know how to say this without coming off like a complete dork." Quinn smiled at her, thinking she was being completely charming right now. "But this is by far the most perfect date I've ever been on."

Quinn let out a relieved breath that made Rachel giggle. "So it's not totally lame?"

"Not at all, Quinn. I'm having a great time," she said, standing directly in front of Quinn, taking her other hand as well. No matter how many times Rachel touched her, she'd feel a warm sensation every time. "However, we could be stranded on the side of the road, rain pouring down, up to our knees in mud, getting pneumonia and I'd still be having a great time because I'd be with you."

Quinn wanted to actually 'aww' at that.

"You are adorable," she gushed before kissing her again as Rachel blushed.

Meanwhile, Brittany's duck wandered into their path, quacking wildly, closely followed by who Brittany stumbled over a tree branch, tumbling over and scaring the duck into flight.

"Aww," Brittany let out.

"Brittany?" Quinn looked at the girl in question.

"Quinn! Rachel!" Brittany exclaimed before opening her mouth in shock. "I WON ROUND TWO!" She shrieked, making Rachel cover her ears at the volume.

Santana, hearing the sudden outburst, jumped off the bench she'd been waiting on and sprinted through the path.

"Brittany?" She yelled, hoping the blonde would hear her.

"Shit!" Quinn exclaimed, suddenly wishing she had an invisibility cloak.

"Quinn, I know we're not out yet, but don't panic. So what if a fellow student were to see us? We're not in any sort of compromising position. We could easily play this off as-"

"Rachel, it's not just any student, it's Santana. She hates you. I just don't want you to go through hell because of _me_. She's relentless, you know that!"

Rachel sighed and dropped Quinn's hands as Santana came running into the picture. Her eyes immediately widened at the sight.

"No fuckin' way," she said before pulling Brittany off of the ground. She started to laugh which made both Quinn and Rachel feel entirely uncomfortable.

"Language, San," Brittany told her.

Santana completely ignored her girlfriend as she locked eyes with Quinn.

"Oh god, this is just too good!" The Latina wildly spoke.

* * *

**I apologize for making you wait so long for this. The night I was supposed to write, I ended up going to see Rent. I'm in love with the woman who played Joanne. Hehe. Then I was going to write on Super Bowl Sunday before Lea blew me away with her beautiful talent, but I live in Wisconsin. That just says enough right there. Anyway, I'm so sorry!**

**But! This chapter is longer as a bribe that you don't hate me and you'll review. I hope it worked. Hehe.**

**Your reviews keep me alive, seriously. And I'm still up for suggestions if you have any.**


	5. Night Of My Life

"Santana, please," Rachel started.

"Save it, midget."

Quinn huffed angrily. Her life was about to become a living hell. Santana, the girl who was supposed to be her best friend, was going to leak this faster than Jacob Ben Israel. School would be ruined, her spot on the Cheerios would be taken away and once her parents found out, her entire life would be a movie directed by Satan himself. It absolutely baffled her that Santana considered the two to be best friends but often pulled things like this. She closed her eyes and waited for the harsh words and threats to come.

"Oh, god, this is better than cheesecake," Santana said looking rapidly between Quinn and Rachel.

Yep. Here we go.

"Before you even start, Santana, let me remind you that I'm head cheerleader," Quinn said in her fiercest tone. If Santana wanted to bring it, Quinn would not hold back. "I can make your life living hell. I can put you on the bottom of the pyramid, make you run laps until you puke, humiliate you in-"

"Whoa, bitch, _calm yo tits_!" Santana raised her hand to silent the girl. "I'm not going to do anything," she finally said in a softer tone, looking at the ground.

Rachel and Quinn's eyes snapped open, almost comically.

"Not that I don't highly appreciate this, Santana, but...why?" Rachel had never been more shocked.

Santana sighed, really not wanting to get into this. She wasn't good with her feelings, she never was. If given the opportunity, she'd ignore them completely. But Rachel just had to ask.

"Because, I know how it feels, okay?" She blurted out, still looking at the ground. Brittany's face saddened as she took Santana's hand.

"I've been there. And it fucking sucked," she recalls, finally looking at the two. "So no, I'm not gonna run on a rumor rampage and tell the school that their queen bee is a gay for the school scum. That's all on you."

Quinn rolled her eyes.

"What a nice way of putting it," Rachel mused.

"Thanks, S." Quinn finally said.

"Whatever," she replied before turning around and dragging Brittany out of the woods.

Rachel and Quinn let out a relieved breath in unison. Maybe it really was as easy as that.

"They're cute," Brittany said as she got into Santana's car.

"They're disgusting," she lied. She didn't want to admit it, but she truly felt for them. Before she decided not to give a flying fuck about other people's opinions, she was terrified of her feelings for Brittany and often hid behind them, casually dating (and sleeping with) Puck. It wasn't until she saw how hurt Brittany was by the whole ordeal that she stopped caring about everything else except the blonde girl.

Santana didn't want that for Quinn and Rachel.

"Does this mean you're going to start being nice to Rachel? I like her."

Santana grumbled something that Brittany decided was a 'maybe', forcing her to lean over and kiss her on the cheek.

"We should have a slumber party!" Brittany said clapping her hands together once in excitement.

"No," Santana simply replied.

"Pleeeeeeeeeaase?" Brittany pouted in her direction.

"B, that doesn't work anymore," she lied again. "I'm not sharing my night with Juno and Yentl."

"San, please? Before we go on double dates you should probably get to know Rachel. Maybe you'll like her too!"

Santana shuddered at the thought of double dates. Like _that _was going to happen.

"I know plenty about Berry." Another lie.

"Yeah, like what?"

"Like, she loves Barbra Streisand and gold stars. How complex," she replied dryly.

And before she could stop her, Brittany had her phone out with Rachel's number already dialed.

"Hi, Rachel!" Brittany was absolutely ecstatic.

"It's Brittany," Rachel whispered to Quinn as they walked back to her car. She quickly pressed speaker phone. "Hey, Britt!"

"Ugh, fuck me..." Santana said quietly despising the situation.

"Wanna have a sleepover? You, Quinn, me and San?" Brittany asked, getting straight to the point.

Quinn shrugged at Rachel who was looking at her.

"We would absolutely love to, Brittany," Rachel replied, deciding there could be a lot gained from quality time.

Brittany squeaked into the phone before giving Rachel the details and hanging up.

Nervously biting her lip, Quinn got into the car and started it without a blink. Sure, Santana was keeping their relationship a secret, but that didn't mean that she necessarily liked Rachel. In fact, before Quinn showed any concern for the girl, Santana claimed to absolutely despise her. Or did she just play along with Quinn? Please, let it be the latter.

Rachel noticed the expression Quinn wore.

"You okay, baby?"

Quinn smiled and looked at Rachel as they drove off.

"I like that."

Rachel furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"I like that you called me baby," she said, blushing.

"Good, because I like continuity. You're going to hear it often."

Quinn took her right hand off the steering wheel and placed it Rachel's. She could not believe this was real. Dating Rachel Berry? Never in a million years would she think she'd be anxiously waiting a goodnight kiss from the small diva. If somebody had told her she'd even have _these_ feelings for Rachel Berry, she'd have laughed directly in their face. But now, she'd just smile in acceptance. Here she was, spending her night on a date with Rachel while the others had been spent thinking about her and only her. She was falling for the girl, and it felt _good_.

"I really had a great time tonight," Rachel said after a few minutes of a comfortable silence.

"Santana and all?" Quinn asked, worried.

Rachel giggled. "Yes, Quinn. Santana and all."

A smile spread across Quinn's face as she pulled into Rachel's driveway.

"You know, it's actually kind of nice that they know. That _someone_ knows," she said.

Quinn looked curious. "Why's that?"

"Because now I have two more people to gush to you about. I think my dads are getting slightly irritated," she admitted.

"You talk about me?"

Seriously, how many times can a person blush in one night? Quinn was sure she broke the record. But this time Rachel was the one who blushed.

"Yeah," she said, nodding slightly. "How could I not?" She said before leaning over and taking Quinn's bottom lip between hers. Quinn only pulled away when she noticed the living room curtain slide to the side. Rachel's dad had been peeking through since they arrived.

"Honey, leave them alone. You remember what it's like," Leroy tried to reason.

"I guess," Hiram responded, backing away from the curtain before peeking again once Leroy left the room.

"I think your dads are spying on us," Quinn said kind of concerned. She could tell already that Rachel's dads liked her, but that doesn't mean they want to see her pressing her lips on Rachel's. It was kind of weird for them to be watching.

"Ugh, they promised!" Rachel nearly whined before whipping her head around to see her dad in the window. She rolled her eyes at him before turning back to Quinn. "I guess I should go," she said with obvious disappointment in her voice.

"I'll walk you to the door," Quinn said, smiling as she got out of the car and swiftly moved to the passenger side, opening Rachel's door. The two walked up the path to her house, noticing Hiram still pressed against the window like a kid in a zoo.

"Honey, please!" Quinn and Rachel heard Leroy yell as he dragged his husband away from the window and into the kitchen.

Rachel and Quinn giggled at the two inside.

"Finally," Rachel said, taking Quinn's hand again.

"Thanks, Rach."

Rachel tilted her head slightly. "For what? It's me who should be thanking you."

She shook her head a little, smiling. "Thanks for being so amazing."

"You're quite welcome, the pleasure is all mine, really," she replied, beaming, causing Quinn to laugh a little.

"You're so cute," the blonde said before pressing a light kiss to Rachel's waiting lips. Rachel happily sighed into the kiss, letting one hand wander to the other girl's hip while the other made it's way to her cheek, deepening the kiss. Quinn let her tongue slide against Rachel's bottom lip causing Rachel to open her mouth in a quiet moan.

_'Is kissing supposed to feel _this_ good?' _Quinn wondered as she brought her left hand to the back of Rachel's neck, absentmindedly playing with her hair as Rachel slid her warm tongue against Quinn's.

A knock on the window tore them apart. The girls turned to look as the saw a shadow pull another shadow away from the window. Leroy returned seconds later and waved at the two girls before shutting the curtains again.

"Leroy, just because Quinn is a girl doesn't mean we should let them do whatever they please. I saw tongue!" Hiram was merely a concerned father. However, he was trying not to smile at the fact that Rachel was kissing somebody who just happened to _not_ be Finn.

"Calm down, Rachel knows better."

Hiram just sighed.

"Parents," Rachel said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I guess you should get going," Quinn said, taking her hand from the back of Rachel's neck.

Rachel noticed the sad look on her face.

"I'll see you tomorrow night, seven o'clock, Brittany's house," she said before hugging her tightly and kissing her once before before opening the door to her house and waiting parents. She watched Quinn leave, her eyes on her car until it turned a corner, completely out of sight.

"How did it go, sweetie?" Leroy asked from the couch.

"Absolutely perfect," she smiled into her words as she glided up the stairs and into her bedroom.

If Rachel kept a journal, (which of course she didn't because what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands while she was rising to fame?) she would have poured this night into it. Instead, she fell asleep, replaying the night over and over in her head.

A few blocks away, Quinn did the same thing. Everything just felt..._perfect._

* * *

  


**Firstly, thank you, thank you, thank you! Your reviews light up my day and make me smile.  
Secondly, sorry it's so short but I just had to get **_**something**_** out there.  
Thirdly, how adorable was Lea at the Grammy's? What a wimmer. Hehe. So cute.  
Alright, so keep reviewing and I'll keep putting out. Happy Valentine's Day. **


	6. Love Is A Battlefield

"Santana!"

The brunette could feel her body shaking, but not by her own accord. She feels hands. She's too tired to exactly place where the hands are but they're there and they're shaking her violently.

She groans before pushing Brittany away from her.

"B, what the hell..." she pushed through her mouth.

"It's Saturday, San!"

The blonde went back to shaking her until Santana finally gave in and sat up in the bed.

"Britt... I know you're excited for tonight but it's like six in the morning," she said, really not knowing the time.

Brittany furrowed her eyebrows. "Baby, it's 12:30," she simply stated.

Santana closed her eyes, bracing herself to be removed from the bed. On cue, Brittany yanked the blankets from her, causing a slight breeze which gave Santana the chills. Moments later she was pulled up from the bed and forced to stand.

"I made pancakes," the blonde smiled to her girlfriend before dragging her downstairs.

Meanwhile, Rachel had been awake since 6 in the morning. Weekends were never an excuse to skip her exercise ritual. Never. But today she couldn't focus. She paused her trip on the elliptical about four times to just think of what tonight had in store.

Santana Lopez had never really been kind to Rachel. Actually, she had never really been kind to anyone, except Brittany and maybe sometimes Quinn. _Maybe._ It wasn't something Rachel could really understand, but she accepted that it's just how the girl worked. Rachel tried desperately to kill her with kindness whenever an insult was thrown her way but over the last year, she had given up. There was no point in trying to befriend her anymore. Santana would never give in, right? Rachel just accepted that Santana would never like her and move on.

But now it was different. She was now officially dating Quinn Fabray: Head Cheerio, most popular (and most attractive) girl in school, but above all, Santana's best friend.

Their paths had finally crossed and they would continue to cross again and again...and again. She just had to accept that.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Brittany asked Santana, her blue eyes glued to her front door.

"No, B, for the eight time in the past ten minutes, I did not," she said, flipping mindlessly through a magazine while seated on Brittany's couch. She was growing annoyed as the other girl grew impatient. "The doorbell did not ring."

Sadness washed over the blonde's face. She couldn't help that she was so excited for this mini-party. Taking her eyes away from the door, she watched as Santana threw the magazine down onto the coffee table, completely bored with it.

"I love you, you know," Brittany said out of nowhere. When she had a thought, she shared it.

Santana smiled sweetly at the girl before kissing her lightly. "I love you more," she said truthfully, taking Brittany's hand and moving closer to her, resting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

Suddenly a bell ran through the house. Santana groaned at a moment ruined as Brittany shot up from her seat and ran to the door, flinging it open violently, it hitting the wall next to her.

"Come in, come in!" Brittany yanked the girls inside with force before hugging them both until her arms were sore.

"Excited, are we?" Rachel asked as she looked around Brittany's house. It sort of reminded her of home.

"Very!"

"Super thrilled," Santana said sarcastically, getting up from the couch herself, trying desperately not to glare at Rachel. Second nature, y'know?

Rachel silently thanked God for Brittany. What would she do without her in this situation? Actually, she wouldn't even be in this situation, but nevertheless, she was grateful for her. _Brittany._ Brittany the barrier, Brittany the only person who can make Santana smile. Rachel had decided ages ago that her God was not a merciful one but clearly He must have had a change of heart.

"So..." Quinn started, motioning towards the bags she carried on her shoulder.

_'Oh god, look at this, she's carrying Berry's bag. Whipped already.'_

"Right, right!" Brittany grabbed the bags from her, opened the basement door and literally threw them down the staircase.

Rachel was simply glad she didn't have any breakables in her bag.

"So, Brittany, what's on the agenda?" Rachel asked.

"Agenda?" Brittany looked at her funny.

"Yes, the agenda. The plan for tonight? You have one, don't you?"

"Fuck lists," Santana spat. "'Cause we do's whatevs we wants, okay?" Santana ended with a snap before walking into the kitchen.

This whole ghetto-Santana thing was getting a little out of control, Quinn decided.

The Latina came back not a moment later with a bottle in her hand.

"Uh, no," Quinn immediately responded. "No way in hell, S. We are _not_ drinking."

Rachel suddenly looked slightly panicked. She had never been drunk before. In fact, she had never consumed alcohol of any sort. She didn't judge people who did and she never actually really opposed to it, it's just the opportunity never presented itself. However, she did wonder sometimes what kind of drunk she'd be.

"C'mon, Q, what's the big deal?"

"Well for starters, the last time I got drunk I got pregnant," she stated.

"Look around," Santana motioned to the other girls. "Kind of impossible for that to reoccur."

Rachel tried not to giggle at that fact.

"Okay, then how about Rachel? She's never even been drunk," Quinn tried.

Santana looked at Rachel with a smirk on her face.

"This is going to be _so _fun," she said darkly before taking the bottle back into the kitchen. Brittany followed close behind.

* * *

"I'm sorry," Quinn said quietly to Rachel. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Rachel could only smile at her concern. "It's okay, really. You're right though. Although I've never been drunk before, I've kind of always wanted to try it," she paused at the look on Quinn's face. "J-just to see."

Quinn's face went from confused to shocked. "Rachel Barbra Berry, you little booze hound," she joked. Rachel lightly hit her arm before looking at the floor in embarrassment. At the same time, Santana merged from the kitchen with Brittany, both carrying two drinks in hand.

"We have to go downstairs so my mom doesn't hear us," Brittany said as she started down the basement steps.

"Yeah, her basement is sound proof. It's fucking _ace_ for when we- nevermind," Santana stopped as she got to the bottom of the stairs. "Not to mention, it has the biggest TV, the best sound system, the comfiest couch known to mankind and epic space for doing epic shit," she finished.

"San is very passionate about my basement," Brittany said, setting the drinks down on the end table. "I think she likes it more than she likes me."

"I-is that a... a dancing pole?" Rachel _had_ to ask. She just had to.

"Yeah, it's super fun," Brittany said, walking over to the pole and spinning on it. "It's really great exercise."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's what it's used for," Quinn said under her breath to Rachel who giggled.

Santana glared at her, not really sure what she said. She shoved a drink into Quinn's face.

"Drink up, bitches!"

Brittany slid over to the table and picked up the drinks, handing one to Rachel and keeping one for herself.

The Latina didn't bother sipping hers. Of course not. She chugged it down in seconds.

"Jeeze," Quinn breathed. "Slow down, Jack Sparrow."

"That's _Captain _Jack Sparrow to you, wench," she said before running up the stairs and out of sight.

Rachel eyed her drink cautiously. "Before I indulge in this, you both must promise me something." The two girls nodded in response. "Just...keep an eye on me. I've never done this before and I don't want to get out of control."

Rachel Berry? Out of control? The thought seemed so foreign to Quinn. But hey, anything was possible with alcohol, right?

"I promise," Quinn replied as Brittany took Rachel's pinkie in her own, pressing her thumb against Rachel's.

The brunette simply nodded a thank you in response to what she assumed was the girl's way of promising. Santana rushed back down the stairs, drink in hand, accompanied by the bottle of Vodka and a bottle of juice under her arm.

"Stairs become increasingly hard when you're drinking," Santana told Rachel who just nodded in response.

By the time Rachel finished her drink, everybody else was on round two.

"Is my face supposed to feel this warm?" Rachel asked, becoming concerned for her health. "Maybe I'm allergic!"

Quinn immediately put her free hand on Rachel's cheek. She really _was_ warm. "Are you okay, baby?"

"Calm down, Berry. This happens to loads of people. It goes away, just keep drinking," she said before shoving another drink in her hand. Rachel merely sipped at it.

"God, we're never going to get you drunk at this rate and I _needs_ to see you drunk. It's game time," Santana said, sitting down in the middle of the floor, prompting the other three to join her. "The classic. I Never. Ready?"

"Sorry, I don't think I'm familiar with this game."

"Oh, c'mon Berry, you're killing me." Santana huffed. "Okay. Example time. I never made out with Puck."

Rachel watched as all three of them took sips of their drink. "Get it, Berry?" Rachel simply nodded although she was kind of confused as to how this was going to help her get drunk at all.

"My turn!" Brittany exclaimed. "I never," she paused to think. "I never had sex in public," she finished before taking a sip. As did Santana.

Although Rachel didn't _really_ need to know that they had sex in public, she started to view this game as an interesting way to get to know her new friends.

Brittany nodded in Quinn's direction.

"Ugh, fine..." Quinn rolled her eyes. "I never dated two people at once."

Nobody drank which Rachel was pleased to see. However she was not pleased to see the look on Santana's face as she whispered something to Brittany. She looked positively devious. Brittany just nodded against her.

"My turn again!" Brittany all but yelled. "I never kissed Quinn," she said before anybody could object. Rachel blushed before drinking.

"I never watched Funny Girl more than ten times," Santana immediately said. Rachel drank again.

"I never kissed Finn in the auditorium," Brittany said. Rachel took a sip.

"Woah, can we stop singling out my girlfriend, please?"

"Sorry, but I just really want to see her drunk," Santana said honestly.

Rachel sighed before bringing the drink to her lips. Was that regret she saw in the future? Oh well. She tilted the drink up and drank...fast. She set the empty cup on the floor.

"Happy?" Rachel asked, feeling a little tipsy. Santana grinned in response.

Four drinks later and they were all drunk, dancing around the basement to Pat Benatar's "Love Is A Battlefield".

"WE ARE STRONG!" Rachel shouted as she jumped around.

"NO ONE CAN TELL US WE'RE WRONG!" Quinn continued as she grabbed Rachel's hand and spun her around, causing the Rachel to fall.

"This is the greatest thing I've ever witnessed," Santana slurred.

Laughter erupted from the small girl on the ground who took Quinn's helping hand but instead of being pulled up, she pulled a giggling Quinn down and on top of her. She pushed the blonde hair out of her face before kissing her lips hungrily. Quinn moaned into the kiss as Rachel moved her hand down Quinn's back, stopping to squeeze her ass. Quinn quickly moved her lips to the diva's neck, kissing, sucking and biting at exposed flesh. Rachel whimpered in pleasure before bringing Quinn's mouth back to hers. She only stopped remembering that they were not alone, thanks to Santana's gagging sounds.

"Oops," Rachel said, looking into Quinn's eyes before laughing again. "So that's the kind of drunk I am," she mused.

But finally, exhaustion overcame them. Rachel was snuggled into Quinn's side on the couch as Brittany and Santana occupied the very large reclining chair. Had they stopped drinking, maybe they could be at least a little sober instead of the combination of drunk and tired.

"Sleepy time?" Brittany asked Santana as her eyes closed.

"Yeah, B, it's definitely sleepy time," she said, kissing the top of her head before getting out of the chair. Brittany shivered at the loss of warmth. "Everybody up," she said lazily but managed to keep force.

The girls groaned before lifting themselves up and away from the couch.

"My favorite part about this couch is that it's a pull out," Santana said, as she used all her remaining strength to extend the couch into a bed. "B, can you get the blankets from the closet?"

Rachel smiled at how familiar Santana was with this.

"I gotta pee," Quinn slurred as she stumbled into the bathroom. Not a minute later she was joined by Santana.

"What the hell, can I get a little privacy?" Quinn said, buttoning her pants.

"Shut up, Fabray. I just came in here to tell you something." Santana propped herself up against the sink. "And I hate to admit it but I'm drunk-"

"No shit," Quinn laughed.

"Bitch, let me finish," she drunkenly raised her hand to Quinn's face. "I was saying I'm drunk and it's the only state I can be in to tell you this."

Quinn looked slightly worried and braced herself. Santana sighed.

"Be careful, okay?" She didn't elaborate.

"With...?"

"With Rachel. This is so backwards," she laughed at herself. "But just don't hurt her."

Quinn was shocked. Was this really happening?

"I know it should be the other way around since _you're _my best friend, not her. But let's be real, Q. If anyone were to get hurt in this relationship, it would definitely be her. Don't do what I did, okay?"

The blonde just started at the other girl.

"What?" Santana asked and received no response. "Q, what the fuck, are you like blacking out or something?"

She laughed. "Santana Lopez... would you happen to _care_ about Rachel Berry?"

Santana made a face that said nothing but '_Bitch, please.' _

"Regardless... I'm not going to hurt her. I've already done enough of that. And she makes me happy. Like, unnaturally happy. I could never hurt her. She means too much to me. And it means a lot that you care about her."

Funny how a serious conversation can be so sobering.

"Yeah, well... whatever."

And with that, she left. Quinn just looked in the mirror and smiled to herself. Everything was turning out to be perfect.

Coming out of the bathroom she found everybody had changed into their pajamas already and were settled, except Rachel who sat on the end of the bed, waiting for Quinn.

"Hurry up, babe, I'm tired," Rachel said with closed eyes.

Quinn's stomach flipped at the sight of Rachel in her pajamas. Were those shorts even legal? She quickly changed into hers and climbed onto the bed and pulled Rachel into her as they lay down. Rachel rested her head on Quinn's chest and listened to her heart and smiled at the quickened beat. She still made the blonde girl nervous.

"Goodnight, baby," Rachel said, leaning up slightly to kiss Quinn's neck lightly. Quinn's eyes fluttered at the sensation. Quinn began to stroke Rachel's hair as she closed her eyes completely.

"Goodnight, Rachel."

The four of them drifted into sleep with ease, not waking once.

It wasn't until around 12 did any of them stir. Rachel jolted up at the sound of _Defying Gravity_ blasting from her phone. She cursed herself for not putting it on silent before reaching over her slumbering girlfriend and grabbing her phone. Luckily she didn't wake Quinn who was sleeping with a slight smile on her face. She leaned down and lightly kissed her cheek. She couldn't help it. Quinn was just so adorable. She smiled before looking down at her phone.

**1 New Text Message  
Fr: Finn Hudson  
'...i miss you'  
**

* * *

Sorry for any mistakes in this chapter and in previous ones. I always write really late at night.

Anyway, THANK YOU! I appreciate all the reviews _so _very much! Thanks to everybody who is following my story. I love you all, seriously. Your reviews make me so happy.

I've already started on the next chapter so if work doesn't completely destroy me, it should be up sooner than usual. Thanks again!


	7. Secret

Rachel groaned at the sight of the text message. She glanced at the clock on her phone.

12:08 PM

She groaned even louder. She had never slept in this late in her entire life. The day was half gone. How did this happen?

"Blame in on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol," she heard Santana grumble before she lazily sat up.

Maybe if Rachel's head wasn't pounding so much, she'd have laughed at that.

"Good...afternoon," Rachel said, trying to sound cheerful.

Santana raised her hand in response.

"Shh. Berry, it's way to early for you to have your mouth anywhere near open."

Rachel didn't bother to fake offense. She was far too tired.

"What are you doing up anyway?" Santana asked.

Rachel could have lied, but what would have been the point? It's not like she controlled Finn's stupid moves. She handed her cellphone to the other girl.

Santana made a disgusted face, almost like she was about to puke before tapping away on Rachel's phone.

"What are you doing?" Rachel worried.

Santana ignored her.

"Santana!" Rachel hissed, trying to keep her voice down not to wake the sleeping blondes.

"Please, Berry, I got this."

Rachel simply sighed. What was the point in fighting Santana? She tossed the phone into Rachel's lap and she hurriedly picked it up to read the response.

'**Dear Finnocense, please FUCK OFF. Berry doesn't need your shit anymore, she's grindin' all up on someone else now.'**

Rachel desperately tried not to laugh.

"Well, you definitely worded it differently... but that's the basics of what I wanted to say to him anyway."

It was the truth. Rachel had tried to pursue friendship with Finn in the past after they had gone their separate ways romantically. But she found herself completely furious as the boy would always make like he was ashamed to even be in her presence. It irritated her to know that he couldn't stick up for her, even as a friend, in front of the glee club and only managed to be kind when it was just the two of them alone.

Finn sucked as a boyfriend and he was an even worse friend. At least to Rachel.

So no, Rachel did not miss him. At all.

Her phone went off again and she mentally cursed herself for not putting it on vibrate before actually doing so. Quinn moved next to her, her eyes opening slightly. Rachel looked down at Quinn with a smile on her face before glancing back at her phone.

**Fr: Finn Hudson  
'santana?'**

Rachel just ignored the text and put her focus back on her girlfriend who was beginning to fully wake up. She leaned down and kissed her forehead lightly causing chills to run through Quinn. Even the slightest touch from Rachel was like heaven.

"Hi," Rachel said, smiling down at Quinn.

"Hi," Quinn repeated, taking note of how much she _loved_ waking up next to Rachel. She immediately gripped Rachel's shoulder and pulled her back down into a laying position before attaching herself to the smaller girl. The brunette closed her eyes, feeling nothing but pure happiness as she nuzzled her head into Quinn's neck.

Rachel's phone buzzed between her and Quinn. She huffed in annoyance at it.

"Somebody's popular," Quinn said, reaching for Rachel's phone.

Quickly grabbing it from Quinn, she sat up again, reading the text from Finn before once again ignoring it.

Quinn furrowed her eyebrows as Rachel just rolled her eyes at her phone.

"Who is it?" Quinn asked, sitting up too.

"Finn. He won't leave me alone."

Quinn's expression flashed sadness before moving right onto mad.

"Way to go Berry," Santana said as if Rachel had done something incredibly wrong.

Rachel looked at her with confusion before turning back to Quinn.

"Are you stupid? She's turning green as we speak."

"Don't call her stupid!" Quinn suddenly barked, waking Brittany up.

Rachel simply placed her hand on Quinn's to calm her down. "It's okay Quinn, you have no reason to be jealous."

"I'm not jealous!" Quinn snapped at her.

Rachel took her hand away, not wanting to upset her more. Quinn sighed, realizing almost instantly that she was completely out of place.

"I'm sorry," Quinn said taking Rachel's hand back. "I didn't mean to yell. I just... I _know_ I'm jealous, okay? I just don't like feeling this way. It never happens."

Rachel smiled at the thought that only she could make Quinn feel this way. Her smile faded quickly. As flattering as it was, she didn't want Quinn feeling like this if it upset her so much. She stroked the back of Quinn's hand with her thumb.

"Quinn, it's okay that you're jealous. But you don't have to be. I am not interested in Finn in _any_ way. Not even as friends," she admitted sadly. "I'm only interested in you."

Rachel placed her other hand on Quinn's cheek and the other girl closed her eyes at the touch. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and nodded against her hand.

Quinn was surprised at herself at how she reacted to Rachel. But she wasn't dumb. Come Monday, Quinn knew that her jealousy would only increase at the sight of the boy, threatening or not because she couldn't stop him. Nobody but Brittany and Santana even knew they were together so she couldn't go all angry girlfriend on him in front of everybody, no matter how bad she wanted to. There was too much to risk.

Rachel lightly kissed Quinn's lips before dropping her hand. "You okay?"

Quinn nodded, smiling at Rachel.

"I should probably get going," Rachel said to the trio, eyes still locked with Quinn's. "I have dance class at two and after last night, I have some serious preparation to do."

Quinn giggled lightly at the memories of last night before nodding to Rachel again.

"Take me home?"

"Of course," Rachel smiled sweetly at Quinn.

How her face wasn't sore, she'd never know. Every time she looked at the blonde girl, she couldn't help but smile. A goofy grin was almost always plastered on her face when they were together. Quinn just did that to her. And she wasn't complaining. Especially since she had the power to make Quinn blush with a simple word or a simple touch.

After saying goodbye to the other two girls (and succumbing to Brittany's many hugs) they left the Pierce household, hand in hand.

"I had fun last night," Rachel admitted while walking down the driveway to her car, parked on the side of the road. "I wasn't too sure I would, but I did."

"I did too. And I was almost certain I wouldn't," Quinn replied. "I guess you just make everything better."

They stopped in front of the passenger's side door.

"You're cute," Rachel said, opening the door for Quinn before squeezing her hand and letting go.

And there it was. The blush.

Quinn climbed in the car and shut the door as Rachel swiftly moved to the other side. She abruptly stopped her movement as she heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes next to her car and what she thought was a human voice. Her eyes moved to the bush, squinting in suspicion. Quinn looked on from inside the car, wondering what she was doing.

Rachel shrugged it off and hopped in the car before taking off towards Quinn's and when they arrived, Rachel pulled into her driveway and put her car into park. She could see that Quinn's mom was home and suddenly she felt eyes on her. Whether they actually were or not, she felt uncomfortable. She knew that Quinn's mom had been better since Russell had left, but she didn't' want to take anything into chance.

Quinn looked at Rachel, wanting to kiss her goodbye but sensed the worry in Rachel's face. She understood completely. She quickly glanced at the front windows of her house before turning back to Rachel and pulling her in for a tight hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered into her ear.

More chills.

"Can't wait," Rachel responded.

Quinn quickly kissed her on the cheek before grabbing her bag and exiting the car, waving at Rachel before walking into her house.

* * *

"How was your night, Quinnie?" Judy asked from the couch.

"Great, mom," she gave her, before heading up to her room.

"Did you have fun with Rachel?"

Quinn stopped. Why would she single Rachel out?

"Yep," she said indifferently before rushing into her room.

_What the hell?_

* * *

As Rachel walked in the door, her dads came rushing in from the kitchen.

"Well, she looks alright," Hiram said, examining his daughter.

Rachel laughed at her concerned parents.

"I'm fine, dad," she insisted.

The men nodded before letting Rachel continue into the household.

"We just love you, is all," Leroy said before returning to the kitchen.

"I know, daddy," she said, smiling.

She honestly could not have asked for better parents.

Finally making it to her room, she put her bag on her bed and opening it to unpack her clothes. She pulled out an unfamiliar item before smiling at her realization. It was Quinn's Led Zeppelin t-shirt. She remembered her mentioning it briefly in the past. She knew it was her favorite and she loved sleeping in it.

Rachel smiled brightly before laying it out on her bed perfectly.

She felt her phone buzz in her pocket. How many moments could Finn possibly ruin?

**1 New Text Message**  
**Fr: Jacob Ben Israel  
'i'll hang on to ur secret...4 a price'**

Rachel huffed in annoyance. He had pulled this countless times in the past but this time, she was not falling for it. She deleted the message and threw her phone down on the bed.

There was no way he was getting another pair of her panties.

* * *

**Okay, so if you want to kill me, I understand. But just... just keep in mind that I love you. And I _promise_ I will have another chapter for you before Monday because this chapter is so tiny.**

**I was going to write more on Tuesday so you'd have a longer chapter but then there was Faberry cuddles everywhere and I was completely distracted! Not to mention the twitter fight club. WHO'S EXCITED FOR TUESDAY? This girl.**

**Anyway... keep reviewing! Please and thank you! It makes my day when you do.**

**Again, all mistakes are mine. ****  
**


	8. Berries and Bribes

Quinn walked into school that Monday with two things on her mind: Rachel and Finn. One because she couldn't stop thinking about the diva no matter how hard she tried (and it didn't really bother her at all) and two because she was still jealous.

'_Do not kick Finn in the face. Do not kick Finn in the face. Do __**not**__ kick Finn in the face! C'mon Fabray, keep your emotions in control!'_

"Hi, Quinn!" Rachel said approaching the blonde who was taking books out of her locker.

It was weird for Quinn. She wanted to kiss her in greeting. She wanted to hold her hand as they walked down the hallway. But she couldn't. It felt weird not being able to. It should have been an accustomed feeling but her world was flipped upside down. Instead of barely acknowledging the girl, she basically wanted to jump her in the hallway.

Quinn leaned over to Rachel to voice her opinion, trying not to get too close as eyes were always on Quinn Fabray.

"This is so weird," she whispered.

Rachel nodded and gave a sad smile. But they had agreed to take this slow and slow would not be having a coming out party in the middle of the hallway spurred on by their incapability to keep their hands to themselves.

"I know. It's quite difficult not to...to touch you, for lack of a better term," Rachel blushed at the way her sentence came out.

"Hey Rach!" The girls heard a voice coming from the end of the hall.

Quinn decided then and there that she didn't want anyone else calling her Rach. That was now _her_ thing. It sounded weird escaping anyone else's lips.

"Oh...hi Finn," Rachel said barely looking at the tall boy.

The head cheerleader began shooting daggers at him...which he missed of course.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He looked sheepish.

"Finn, as Santana viciously worded," she began with a slight wince at the remembrance of Santana's text message. "I do not wish to speak to you. I do not wish to rekindle any sort of romantic relationship with you. And although it's none of your business, I remember her telling you I was currently with someone else. I no longer harbor any more feelings towards you, romantic or not. In fact, I am not even sure I still want to be your friend. Until you can right your wrong, I just think you should keep your distance."

Really, with the way Quinn had been looking at him, it was for his own safety. But at this point Quinn looked like she was about to laugh. Rachel would have to scold her later for it.

Finn didn't move. He barely looked like he was breathing.

"I do apologize, Finn. I don't meant to be so harsh, but you have to accept this and move on," she finished before turning on her heel and swiftly walking away.

She was all about exits and she thought hers was flawless until she realized she left her girlfriend with Finn. She immediately turned around, grabbed Quinn's hand and dragged her off to their first class. She was just lucky at this point that they shared first hour.

Sadly, they also shared that class with none other than Jacob Ben Israel. He had a habit of sitting directly behind Rachel and staring at the back of her head the entire class, sometimes sighing with hope that someday Rachel would reciprocate his love.

It completely grossed Rachel out. She knew she'd have to endure fans in her future but she was sure none would ever be this... dedicated to an obsession.

"Hello, Rachel Berry," he greeted her as he entered the room.

Rachel simply rolled her eyes before looking at Quinn who looked as though Jacob physically disturbed her.

"Have you thought any more about my proposition?" He asked, approaching his usual seat.

Quinn grabbed her bag from the floor next to her and set it on the seat of his desk, marking it as hers.

Jacob would have ignored the claim had anyone else done it, but this was Quinn Fabray. He sat behind a random student who was seated to Rachel's left.

Quinn was her savior.

* * *

"Proposition? You basically just _asked_ for another pair of my underwear."

Jacob smirked in response.

"Rachel. My sweet Rachel," he said eying her up.

Quinn growled, silently wishing he'd burst into flames. It wasn't even completely because of Rachel. She kind of always wished he'd burst into flames.

"I'm _not _giving you anything, Jacob. Not my underwear, not a strand of my hair, _nothing!_"

He shifted in his seat with a grin on his face.

"Then you will pay the consequence."

Rachel rolled her eyes again. This kid was becoming a serious pain in her perfect ass.

* * *

As the day went on, Rachel couldn't help but notice the especially creepy looks Jacob had been giving her. It honestly looked like he was up to something.

He couldn't know, could he?

No. No way.

* * *

Sitting down at the glee table for lunch, Quinn made sure to sit directly on Rachel's right, slightly pushing Rachel towards the edge, leaving no room for Finn to even _think _of sitting next to her. The boy hadn't given up, despite Rachel's little speech. He had been trying to talk to her all day but Rachel still wouldn't have it.

"Hey," Quinn said sweetly, nudging Rachel's side lightly with her elbow.

Rachel smiled knowingly in return, also nudging Quinn's side.

"Hey girl," Mercedes greeted Quinn. "Not sitting with the Cheerios today?"

Quinn shook her head. "I switch off," she said truthfully. She did switch off and Mercedes had noticed but she also noticed that Mondays and Tuesdays were Cheerio days, Wednesdays and Thursdays were for Glee and Friday, usually game day, was for the Cheerios.

Mercedes knew that.

"Uh...Rachel?" Tina grabbed the girl's attention. "What's up with Jacob?" Tina's expression was priceless. She looked genuinely scared of him.

Rachel looked in Tina's line of vision before her eyes briefly met Jacob's. She shuddered in disgust. He was staring. It wouldn't have been anything new, really. He stared at her often. But he was multitasking this time. While staring, he was eating his food perfectly. He didn't look away once. Didn't miss a beat. Before taking the last bite, he smiled at Rachel and got up and left.

"Want me to kick his ass?" Puck asked, plastic butter knife in hand.

"That's a very sweet gesture, Noah, but you were sentenced to a three day in-school suspension the last time you did that."

Puck remembered. He remembered well. A suspension was nothing for him. He viewed it as free time. But an in-school was torture for him.

"Well, if he keeps it up, I might just have to do something about it," Finn chimed in as he sat down next to Tina.

Rachel rolled her eyes at his attempt to enter the conversation and win her over. She swiftly rose from her seat and exited the lunch room.

"Keep it up, Hudson," Quinn said before leaving as well.

Finn shrugged to Puck who looked at him questioningly.

Kurt just smiled knowingly. Rachel hadn't told him of her relationship with Quinn. He was kind of offended that she didn't, but he understood. He secretly wondered if everybody else was incredibly stupid or if he just saw through most charades. When Kurt hadn't been completely sure of his gut feeling, the look on Quinn's face when Finn sat down filled in every hole his conclusion had.

"Girls," Kurt said, rolling his eyes, covering up whatever trail might have been left behind. Not everybody could be as smart as Kurt, but not everybody was completely daft either, right? He'd protect them for now.

"Preach," Artie said.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked, approaching the smaller girl who was standing by her locker, looking angry.

Rachel's expression immediately softened.

"I could ask the same," she said, smiling. "Every time Finn is within a thirty foot radius, you look like you're going to kill something."

Quinn giggled at herself. She was being kind of silly.

"I know, I can't help it. I know he's not a threat, but he's seriously annoying."

Rachel took Quinn's hand and brought her in for a hug which Quinn happily melted in to. It had only been a half day and she had already missed this. She pulled back and looked into chocolate eyes. She wanted to kiss her. _Really bad._

"We're clear," Rachel said. Quinn momentarily thought she had a mind reader for a girlfriend.

That thought passed as soon as their lips met for the sweetest possible kiss.

"I really needed that," Quinn said quietly.

"Me too," Rachel said, resting her forehead against Quinn's, closing her eyes in comfort.

But soon they heard the noise of students coming back from lunch and they separated, both missing the contact instantly.

Rachel's face visibly saddened and it pained Quinn to see. She began thinking that maybe the didn't have to take this as slow as they thought. Clearly they weren't prepared to hide their relationship. Quinn could barely handle it. The only that worried her was her position on the Cheerios being jeopardized and her mother finding out.

Judy had said on several occasions since the absence of Russell that she was completely okay with homosexuality but it's always different when it's _your_ child, isn't it?

Quinn sighed in defeat as she mentally accepted the challenge to keep it under wraps for a little while longer. Especially if it's what Rachel wants.

"I'll see you in glee, okay?"

"Of course," Rachel responded with a hint of a smile.

Quinn winked at her before moving to her locker, several feet down and Rachel found herself smiling again.

Before they began their relationship, Rachel had a habit of watching Quinn when she wasn't looking. Not in a creepy, serial killer stalker kind of way, just in an admiration kind of way. She thought she'd stop after they started dating, but she continued to watch Quinn in all her perfection. She couldn't help it.

Quinn opened her locker and was taken aback as gallons of, _what is this, cereal?, _began to poor out of her locker. Her mouth flew open in shock as she took a few steps away from her locker, crunching every piece she stepped on.

She recognized this cereal, it was one of her favorites: Oops! All Berries.

Rachel recognized the cereal as well after Quinn had _insisted _they go out and get a box after learning it was back on the shelves. Her eyes were wide as she watched Quinn turn an angry shade of red. But what Quinn and apparently the rest of McKinley didn't realize, Rachel did.

It was a sign.

She saw a flash go off from behind her and she turned around to see Jacob Ben Israel, camera in hand, looking as though he accomplished something spectacular before smiling at her knowingly.

She swatted the camera out of his hands violently, not even caring that it hit the ground with an awful crashing sound.

"Listen, JewFro," she began, adopting the nickname from several others, "Whatever you _think_ you have on us, you don't," she said with pure anger.

She would protect Quinn if it killed her.

"Oh, so you admit you're a pair?"

Rachel could feel her ears burning.

"I never said that!"

"But you implied it."

"You are completely infuriating!

Jacob shrugged.

"It doesn't matter what you say. I have evidence of you and one miss Quinn Fabray leaving the Pierce household hand in hand. I can take that picture and run with that alone. McKinley High will take what they can get."

Rachel huffed loudly, glancing back at Quinn's locker which was now shut and the blonde was nowhere to be seen.

"Fine. Meet me at 4:15 in the gym." She said voicing defeat. "I'll give you whatever you want."

* * *

_**As promised!**_

__**Thank you for all the reviews and subscriptions. It really means a lot.**

**Please, please continue to review! Let me know what you think so far and tell me if there's anything you want to see, maybe I can work it in. Thank you so much, my little Faberry lovers!**

**Once again, mistakes are mine! I will update sooner than later. Love you all! **


	9. Protective Punching

"Quinn!"

_Surprise!_

The blonde squared in on Jacob, who was now backed into the brick wall of the school.

He really should have known. Behind the head cheerleader was Rachel Berry, hands on her hips, looking quite supportive.

"Hello, _Jacob,_" she said, stressing his name for intimidation.

_'Oh god, Quinn Fabray just used my name,'_ he thought, terrified and intrigued, maybe even turned on, all at the same time.

"Please don't hurt me," was all he could manage.

Quinn huffed, almost looking amused for a moment.

"Of course I'm going to hurt you," she said with a smile and a sweet-as-candy tone of voice.

The boy winced at her words.

"Did you really think that you could threaten Rachel and get away with it? Could you really be _that _dumb? I'm pretty sure I announced she was _off..limits. _Untouchable. Is that something you didn't understand? Do you need a pamphlet or will my fist suffice?"

"There are pamphlets?" He wondered out loud.

Quinn raised her fist in anger.

"No, please! I'll do anything!"

His knees gave out and he fell to the concrete in a thud.

_Yes._

He said the exact words they were looking for.

"Great," Quinn said, walking over to him and picking him up off the ground by his shirt, choking him in the process. "Listen to me very carefully."

Jacob was sure he was going to piss himself.

"Unless you want to tell the entire student body that you fell down the stairs to explain your array of fresh bruises, you will do exactly as I say, got me?"

Rachel smirked in the background. Watching Quinn protect them... protect _her, _was thrilling.

Jacob nodded wordlessly.

"You're going to run a story but it's not going to be about us. It's going to be a closing article about how you decided to get a life and stop prying in everybody else's. This is it for you, JewFro. You're done," she said, poking him in the chest before mentally reminding herself to wash her hands when this was over.

He looked like he was going to cry. Quinn Fabray was asking... no, _telling_ him that he stop doing the only thing he knew how to do. It as the only thing that connected him with any of the students. Sure, he didn't have any _real _friends, but people still respected him. Either that or they were nice because he had the power to ruin them if he really wanted to. And now he was being forced to give it up.

He thought for a moment before nodding to himself.

"I won't do it," he said confidently.

And just like that, Quinn's fist swiftly met his face.

"Okay, I'll do it!" He yelled instantly after.

Getting dumped in the garbage and having his head pushed in the toilet bowl was nothing compared to Quinn's fury.

"That's what I thought," Quinn said before picking up his backpack and shoving it into him, turning and then walking away with Rachel in hand.

Rachel squeezed her hand in a short-hand way of saying she was proud but Quinn winced and withdrew said hand immediately.

"Baby, are you okay?" Rachel stopped, and carefully brought Quinn's hand up into hers.

"I'm fine. It will probably just bruise," Quinn lied. It felt like her entire hand was shattered. It wasn't often that she had to go around throwing punches herself. Usually she'd have a jock take care of it.

"We need to get you an ice pack immediately!" Rachel went into panic mode within seconds. "I knew I should have left my first aid kit in my locker! What if you're seriously injured? What if you broke something?"

Quinn couldn't help but giggle at her girlfriend. How did she get to be so adorable? Even when she was rambling on about first aid kits...

"Quinn, why are you laughing? This is a serious matter," she huffed, still holding Quinn's injured hand in hers.

"I just..." she started. She really wanted to tell her that she loved her. She really did. "You're just... so cute."

She smiled up at Quinn before gently kissing her already bruising hand with cautious lips. A shiver ran through Quinn's body and she wondered if Rachel would always make her feel this good with the simplest of touches.

'C'mon, let's go study," Quinn said with a smirk and Rachel knew they weren't going to study at all.

"Rachel! Quinn!" They heard a familiar voice behind them.

Turning around, Quinn furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Kurt? What are you still doing here?" Rachel asked. It was nearly an hour since glee had ended.

"Absolutely nothing," he said before eying up Quinn's hand, gasping slightly. "Quinn, your hand! What happened?"

Quinn coughed nervously. What we she supposed to say? '_Oh, I just punched JewFro in the face for threatening to expose my romantic relationship with Rachel Berry, no big deal...'_

"Absolutely nothing," she mimicked him.

"You're a terrible liar, Quinn Fabray," he said with a look on his face that made her uneasy. "Looks to me as if you punched somebody."

Both girls remained silent.

"You did!" He said excitedly. "You punched someone, didn't you? Defending Rachel's honor, right?" His grin was ear to ear.

_What the fuck, is he psychic or-_

"Uh," Quinn began. "What?"

"Don't play dumb with me, ladies," Kurt said, with a pointed finger that traced a line in the air between the two girls.

Rachel stood in silence. It wasn't a big deal to her if Kurt knew, or if anyone knew for that matter. She had no problem with her sexuality and was very proud to be with Quinn. Plus, it was Kurt after all. But it wasn't her place to out someone who wasn't ready.

"Alright, Hummel, don't make me punch you too," Quinn said in a humorous tone.

Kurt and Rachel simultaneously smiled.

"I knew it!" Kurt shrieked. He immediately pulled both girls in for a hug before pushing them off playfully, his face mouth transforming into a pout. "Although, I'm a little hurt you didn't tell me," he said to them, a little more directed at Rachel.

"It's actually kind of nice to have someone else in on it," the blonde said, thankful Kurt knew of their relationship. "Well besides S and B of course."

"Santana knows?" He asked.

They nodded.

"And she's okay with it?"

Another nod.

"With Rachel? She's okay with Rachel?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I'm actually likable?" Rachel crossed her arms over her chest.

The other two didn't say a word.

Rachel dropped her mouth open in shock. "Quinn! Don't make me injure you even more," she threatened.

"I'm just kidding, baby, you're totally likable," she said, wrapping her arms around Rachel.

"Terms of endearment?" Kurt couldn't help but question their relationship. He was a hopeless romantic and thrived off of couples around him. "How long has it been? What did I miss? You guys didn't already attempt to make lady babies did you?"

Rachel tilted her head, clearly confused. Quinn just grabbed her hand (with her good one, of course) and dragged her off, muttering something to Kurt that sounded like 'see you later'.

* * *

"Hey girls!" Leroy said from the kitchen as he heard the door close.

Quinn sighed. Her plan for openly making out on the couch while 'watching' a movie was ruined.

"Daddy? What are you doing home?" Rachel said, leading Quinn into the kitchen and dropping her bag next to the table.

"Finished early," he replied, setting a glass of water down on the counter next to him. "More importantly, why are you two so late?"

"We had some serious business to take care of," Rachel said without a beat.

"Business you say? Oh, that reminds me, Finn stopped by, wanted to talk to you, Rachel."

And just like that, Quinn scowled.

"I see I hit a nerve," Leroy observed.

"Finn definitely isn't Quinn's favorite person at the moment," Rachel admitted to her daddy. "He's not really mine either."

"Anything I need to be concerned about?" Leroy really was an excellent parent.

"Not particularly. I can handle myself, you know that, daddy. You taught me well." Rachel beamed with pride.

"Okay, sweetie, but if you need me, I'll be on him, shotgun and all," he said, kissing the top of her head before taking his glass of water and leaving the room.

"You have a shotgun?" Quinn questioned, slightly worried.

Rachel just shook her head. "Daddy thinks he's funny. Although Dad really considered buying one when he saw Jacob climbing up the tree in the backyard."

Suddenly the pain in Quinn's hand lessened. He really deserved that punch.

"Let's go study," Quinn said, picking up Rachel's book bag and heading into the living room and up the stairs.

"Keep the door open, girls," Leroy said from the couch, as he flipped through the channels.

"Daddy, I thought our home was built on trust."

"It is, sweetie, I'm only kidding. I'm not your dad after all," he chuckled at Hiram's slightly more protective state.

Rachel rolled her eyes playfully at him before progressing up the stairs.

"But keep your clothes on!"

"Daddy!" Rachel yelled, shocked at his words.

"I make no promises," Quinn whispered and winked at Rachel who blushed furiously.

* * *

**I'm so sorry. I fully understand if you want to beat me up. If you can, just try to avoid my nose.**

**You impatient little Faberry shippers have every right to be upset with me. I know I said I'd update sooner rather than later and I honestly don't know what happened. And this chapter isn't even that great, it's kind of filler, kind of not... at least until I can find the time to give you something worth while.**

**Reviews are love! Tell me what you like, what you hate, what you want to see...etc. Thank you so much!**

**Again, mistakes are mine. **


	10. Nice Night For An Outing, You Think?

"Quinn?"

The blonde's closed eyes twitched at the light that was turned on in a flash. She gave an annoyed grunt and turned away from it, gathering up more of Rachel's comforter.

"Quinn, wake up," she said, gently nudging the other girl.

Quinn groaned and opened her eyes, turning towards Rachel.

"We fell asleep," Rachel told her, thinking about how comfortable she'd been in her arm's. She didn't want to wake the sleeping beauty but it was getting late and she didn't want to get the girl into any trouble with her mom.

The blonde squinted at the clock on Rachel's bedside table. 10:47 PM. _Shit._

"I really, _really_ don't want to leave," Quinn said, nuzzling into Rachel's warmth. "But my mom is probably worried."

That was an understatement. Ever since her dad left, Judy had been completely over-protective of her daughter which Quinn found completely annoying but she understood. Her mom lost one part of her family already. Losing Quinn would absolutely kill her.

"I understand, Quinn," she said, placing a kiss to the girl's temple. "Which is why I woke you up. We did not acquire parental permission for you to spend the night at my house and although my dads wouldn't mind, your mom is probably worried sick. Come on, I'll drive you home."

Quinn nodded and reluctantly detached herself from Rachel. She suddenly realized how cold it was and shivered slightly.

"Here, put this on," Rachel handed her a white zip up hoodie that said _Juilliard _on it in navy blue. Quinn chuckled at it before putting it on and following Rachel downstairs and out the door.

The car ride was a comfortable silence in which Rachel's right hand was placed on Quinn's left thigh which caused the latter girl to concentrate on keeping her breathing in control.

"Please tell your mother that I am deeply apologetic for keeping you out so late and that it was completely unintentional therefor you should not be punished in any way, shape or form for the unexpected occurrence and that in the future, we will ask permission-"

Her words were cut off by a passionate kiss that Rachel had no choice but to give in to.

They parted a good two minutes later, realizing that this wasn't getting Quinn in the house any faster.

"I'll see you tomorrow," the blonde offered before quickly kissing Rachel again and getting out of the car. Rachel drove off smiling like a lovesick puppy. 

* * *

Quinn opened the door to her house slowly, not wanting the old wooden door to creak. She winced as it did. It always did.

"Quinnie?" Judy jumped up from the sofa in the living room and rushed to the door, attacking her daughter with a hug.

"Hi mom," she said, afraid of what was coming next.

"I was so worried, you didn't answer my calls. I ended up calling Santana for Rachel's number, but she mistakenly gave me the number for Breadstix. Did you know the Berry's aren't listed in the phone book? I just phoned your teacher, Mr. Schuester, and had him give me her home phone number."

Quinn squirmed out of the embrace and saw her mom clutching a piece of paper with the Berry's number on it.

"Sorry mom, my phone died. Anyway, how did you know I was at Rachel's?" Quinn couldn't remember telling her that's where she'd be.

"I just assumed. You were, weren't you?"

She wanted to lie, just to prove her wrong. But she couldn't.

"Yeah, I was. And I'm sorry I wasn't home sooner. We fell asleep while studying," she said honestly. "Oh, and Rachel says she's sorry for keeping me so late except she said it in paragraph form," she said trying to hide the smile as she thought about her girlfriend's quirky habit of rambling.

Judy smiled in response before hugging her daughter again.

"I like that Rachel. Much better than those boys you dated."

Quinn's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?" She wanted to swallow her own words almost immediately. She shouldn't have asked.

"I just mean that Rachel is much more suitable for you, Quinn," Judy said, releasing her daughter and smiling at her.

Judy had decided that if Quinn wasn't going to bring it up, she'd have to. She'd been itching to talk about it.

"I don't understand..."

"Quinnie, I know about you and Rachel," she started. "And-"

"You what?" She snapped her eyes wide open. "_No_. - No, no, no, no, no. This is not supposed to happen right now," Quinn said, tears forming in her eyes. Her chest tightened and she started getting dizzy.

"Honey, it's okay," Judy said, but the buzzing currently occupying Quinn's ears was far too loud for her to hear anything else. She was stricken with panic. Quinn was not mentally or emotionally ready for this. She had thought about it almost every day since she'd been with Rachel but every scenario that went through her head ended with her being thrown out of the house and ignored by her mother.

Her mother promised her the day her dad left that nothing like that would ever happen again. She promised to love Quinn no matter what.

But the memories were still all too fresh for Quinn. She was thrown out then, she'd be thrown out now. Thoughts that constantly ran through her brain told her that no matter when she told her mom, it would end in pain. She knew she couldn't keep it a secret forever, but now was definitely not the time. In her mind, there was only one thing coming now and that was disapproval and rejection.

"Oh god," she breathed out before swinging the door open and going outside, not bothering to shut the door.

The cool air felt good on her hot skin. She started walking what she thought to be aimlessly before she realized she was only a block away from Rachel's now. Her subconscious outsmarted her again. 

* * *

Swiftly wiping the tears from her eyes, Quinn rang the doorbell, knowing it was late but where else could she go?

Hiram opened the door to a broken looking girl. He immediately engulfed her into a warm hug. She let her sobs go, tears wetting his shirt.

He slowly moved them into the living room, forgetting to shut the front door. They sat on the couch as Quinn cried for another minute.

"It's okay, Quinn," he said soothingly as Leroy entered the room with a glass of water, sitting himself on the other side of Quinn, handing her the glass.

"It's not," she choked out, trying not to hyperventilate like before. She took a sip of the water and felt the coolness slide down her throat.

Hiram released his grip on Quinn and the three of them sat in a row.

"Maybe it doesn't seem that way right now," Leroy said, placing his hand on Quinn's knee. "But I promise, it will get better."

Quinn shook with a sob and latched onto the man.

"Tell us what happened," Hiram said as Quinn stopped crying again. "We're here for you."

She wiped at her eyes again before gathering the courage to speak.

"She just... she said she knew. That's it. She told me she knew. Out of nowhere. And I just started freaking out," she said, trying desperately not to cry again. "It felt like I had been hit by a bus – I couldn't breathe."

She paused and looked at Leroy, suddenly grateful for him and Hiram. She felt safe with them.

"Then I left... I just left. I didn't even let her finish because I just – I just keep thinking that she's going to hate me."

Leroy hugged her again.

"She'll never hate you, Quinn."

The blonde shook her head.

"How do you know? She threw me out once..."

Hiram looked heartbroken from a moment. He'd been thrown out when he was Quinn's age and he knew how it felt to be rejected by family. But this was different and this wasn't about him. It was about Quinn and he knew Judy wouldn't do that again.

"Because she called here as soon as you left," Hiram said, smiling to Quinn. "She said she loves you no matter what and she's ready to talk when you are."

Quinn blinked, letting another tear slide down her cheek.

"She did?"

He nodded.

"She did," Leroy said. "She'll be there for you, Quinn, just like we are right now."

Quinn smiled, and let another tear go. She was lucky her amazing girlfriend had such amazing parents.

"Now go upstairs and get some sleep," Leroy said, standing up and bringing Quinn up with him. "We already told your mom we'd be holding you hostage for the night and she understands, so go get some rest."

She nodded, suddenly realizing how exhausted she really was. Walking towards the stairs, she realized she forgot to thank them. She turned around and quickly hugged them tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"No problem, kiddo," Leroy said before scooting her towards the stairs.

Dragging herself up the stairs she thought that cuddling with Rachel would be the perfect way to end such a rough night. She slowly opened Rachel's door, the light from the hall creeping into the room and illuminating Rachel in a peaceful slumber. Smiling at the picture before her, she slowly entered and quietly shut the door behind her. Inching towards the bed, she took her shoes off and slid under the covers, wrapping her arm around Rachel's waist.

The girl subconsciously reacted by nuzzling her head into Quinn's neck. It only took her a few moments to realize it wasn't a dream and that Quinn was in fact next to her. Her eyes opened and met with hazel ones.

"Quinn?" Rachel sat up slightly. "What are you doing here? N-not that I'm complaining..."

Quinn smiled and kissed Rachel's forehead.

"I acquired parental permission to spend the night at your house," she said, grinning.

Rachel took the answer as is, knowing there was more to it. She could see in Quinn's eyes that she'd been crying. Not wanting to upset her more, she just let it go. There was always tomorrow.

She pressed her lips to Quinn's in a soft kiss before resting her head on her chest, letting her arm across Quinn's stomach. They both fell asleep soon after that, changing positions while dreaming. Rachel ended up being the little spoon.

Quinn woke up in the middle of the night in a slight panic, remembering what had happened only a few hours earlier but quickly calmed herself, as tightened her grip on Rachel, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. She pressed her lips to Rachel's bare shoulder and drifted back to sleep with nothing but dreams of the sleeping girl next to her.

She could definitely get used to this. 

* * *

**Thank you so much for the reviews, alerts and favorites! They really make my entire day. Sometimes even the whole week! Anyway, I hope this chapter is alright, seeing as I quite like it. I was really into the idea of some Quinn/Hiram/Leroy bonding time and it was a perfect opportunity.**

**Keep the reviews coming! Thank you.**


	11. You Can Wear Mine

Tuesday morning greeted Rachel and Quinn with sunshine.

The blonde opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the window. She closed them again, remembering what had happened the night before. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she looked next to her to find an empty spot where Rachel had been.

She glanced at the clock. 7:06 AM.

Rachel came in through the bathroom door, startled that Quinn was now awake.

"I'm sorry, I meant to be here when you woke up," she said making her way over to the bed and sitting down on it.

Quinn smiled at that before sitting up.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"You just looked so peaceful," Rachel admitted. "And I could tell you had a rough night. I just wanted to let you rest."

Rachel really was the sweetest person Quinn ever met.

"By the way, whenever you want to talk about it, I'm here."

Quinn rolled her eyes at herself. Maybe she had overreacted?

"It's not the huge deal that I made it out to be," Quinn said, removing the blankets from her body and standing up.

She started making her way towards the bathroom when Rachel grabbed her hand lightly and forced her to spin around in her direction.

"You were crying," Rachel simply stated, still holding onto Quinn's hand.

"It's really nothing," she paused. "It's just... my mom told me she knows," she said, trying not to cry again.

Why did this upset her so much? Was she really not ready to tell her?

Rachel furrowed her eyebrows but didn't say a word.

"About us, Rachel. She knows about _us_."

Rachel immediately stood up and wrapped her arms around Quinn, taking her into strong yet soft hug. They stayed that way for a while before either of them spoke. Quinn found comfort in Rachel's embrace. She always did. And it certainly helped that Rachel was gently stroking her hair.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked finally, pulling back from the other girl just enough to see her face.

Quinn nodded, not really knowing if that was the truth. Rachel's dads had told Quinn that her mother was completely okay with it. After all, Judy was the one to bring it up. This wasn't Quinn's doing at all. Maybe she really was okay with it.

But that idea was completely foreign to Quinn. She had expected to be hated, to not even be tolerated and to be thrown out.

She was not giving Judy the credit that she deserved. Her mother transformed into a different person over the past few months. She was released from her prison that was Russell Fabray. Sure, she still had remaining conservative views but not about this. Especially not about Quinn. She would accept and love her no matter what. Judy thought her daughter understood that. And it broke her heart to learn otherwise.

"I'll be fine, really," she said, starting to become more sure of herself.

Rachel nodded and smiled slightly, still worried about Quinn.

"Alright, now go get ready for school. You know I can't be late."

Quinn froze midway to the bathroom.

"Uhh, Rach?" She turned around to face the smaller girl.

"Yes, Quinn?"

"I don't have any clothes," she said, realizing she only had a grass stained Cheerios uniform with her. If she showed up in that, Sue Sylvester might actually decapitate her and use her head as a football in the next game, like she so lovingly threatened to do the last time she had a grass stain on the holy uniform.

"We can run to your house and-"

"No, thanks." Quinn cut her off. She wasn't ready to face her mom just yet. "Anyway, we don't have time."

She was right, they had to be at school within a half hour.

"But aren't you required to wear your uniform during all school hours?"

Quinn shook her head. "Not necessarily. It's frowned upon but I'm not forced to wear it. Only on game days. If Sue asks, I'll just tell her I'm having my uniforms dry-cleaned. After all, I need to look my best," Quinn finished with a sarcastic tone.

"Okay, well then you'll have to wear my clothes," she said, flinging open her closet doors.

Quinn mentally face-palmed before walking over to the closet and examining her clothing.

"Let's see," she began. "Animal sweater, argyle sweater, black 'short-as-sin' skirt, plaid skirt, plaid shirt, a sweater with a huge yellow bow on it... Rachel this isn't going to work."

"I thought you didn't have a problem with the way I dress," she said, looking a bit sad.

"I don't, you know that. It's just-"

"Just what?"

"How is it going to look if I walk into school dressed just like you?"

Rachel giggled at the idea of Quinn in argyle anything.

"Quinn, nobody is going to notice that they are my clothes. Sure, they'll pay a load of attention to your attire, but they won't make the connection. Nobody thinks of me when they look at you."

'_They will soon,' _Quinn thought.

The blonde made her way over to Rachel and placed the sweetest kiss on her lips. She hated seeing sadness expressed on her beautiful face.

"Today they just might."

She made her way back to Rachel's closet, picking out a classic Rachel Berry outfit: a black skirt with a printed yellow bow at the bottom left, a pale yellow cami under an argyle sweater accented in said yellow, white knee-socks and black Mary-Janes.

Passing Rachel's dresser on the way to her bathroom, she opened the top drawer and grabbed a pair of her panties.

"Quinn, you're showing characteristics of one Jacob Ben Israel."

"You can't expect me to go commando, can you?" She winked at Rachel before entering the bathroom to change.

She walked out 15 minutes later, hair and makeup done, looking absolutely... Berry-like. She was even wearing one of Rachel's headbands.

"Oh my god," Rachel gushed, not taking her eyes off her skirt. It _was_ really short. Especially on Quinn.

"Okay, let's go! We can't be late, can we?" Quinn dragged Rachel out of the room and down the stairs.

"Rachel, I told you to quit cloning yourself. You're grounded," Leroy teased before handing them both muffins. "Now, get out."

Leroy opened the door, ushered them out and shut it behind them.

Quinn was suddenly grateful she was wearing Rachel's sweater as the wind was fierce that day. Fierce and freezing. 

* * *

"Ready?" Quinn asked, as they made their way towards the doors.

"I should be asking you that, Quinn. You look like a better version of me. Everybody is going to notice. Especially if we walk in together."

"So?"

"So, you go first. I'll just wait behind a minute or two."

"Rachel, I don't care what they think anymore," she said, feeling a bit reckless.

Rachel sighed. She knew Quinn better than Quinn knew herself.

"You do care. You may not think so, but once everybody finds out that we're a little more than friendly towards each other, you're going to enter panic mode again. You're worried, Quinn. I know this because I can read you. I can read your actions, your expressions, everything. I know you're not only still worried about your mom, but you're worried about your social status. You've been hooked on it since you entered the 8th grade. And I'm not going to let you ruin it by being seen, not only in my clothes but me tagging along."

Quinn wanted desperately to interrupted her but she was dying to hear the rest.

"You'll be ready in time, Quinn. I'm not saying that we'll keep this a secret forever. I know you won't allow that to happen, but you're still shaken up over your mom and I don't think you're thinking this through. I know image means a lot to you but I mean more. I know that, Quinn but you're not ready for two in one."

Quinn nodded in understanding.

"Let's just get through today without any inquiry so you can talk to your mom and then we can talk about this," Rachel motioned to the school. "Okay?"

"Okay," she sighed before quickly hugging Rachel and walking into school.

Rachel was right. People did notice her clothing but nobody mentioned anything about Rachel. That was until-

"Hey preggers," Santana said, leaning up against the locker next to Quinn's.

"S, it's been how long? Notice I'm not actually pregnant anymore."

"It just sticks, okay?" She said defensively. "Anyway, that's not the point. The point is why the fuck are you dressed like a Jewish lesbian?"

Quinn just rolled her eyes in response.

"Seriously, Q. I'm just curious. I mean, I know you two are all homo happy together but this is a bit much," she said, picking at the argyle sweater.

Quinn closed her locker and faced her friend.

"I spent the night at Rachel's and I forgot my clothes," she said honestly.

"Yeah right, Q. You never forget your clothes. In fact you always bring extra. Especially after we spent the night at Brittany's and you were forced to wear her little sister's clothes home."

"I didn't _forget _my clothes that night, Santana."

"Okay, so maybe I threw them in the pool and then stuck them in the freezer."

"Why am I talking to you, again?" Quinn said, starting down the hall, forcing Santana to follow.

"Oh, I dunno... maybe because I'm trying to help you out, here?"

She stopped to face the Cheerio.

"Santana, while I appreciate your concern, I don't need your help."

A small laugh erupted from the Latina.

"Concern? I just don't want you dragging me down with you when this blows up in your face," Santana said as if she absolutely knew it was going to do just that.

"I have everything under control," the blonde said before walking away. 

* * *

"Quinn, what the hell are you wearing, girl?" Mercedes said the moment Quinn walked into glee club.

"Do you think if I asked Rachel nicely, she'd let me play with her Barbie?" Brittany whispered to Santana.

Ignoring the rest of the comments, she took a seat in the front, between Artie and Rachel.

"I told you so, Juno," she heard Santana say from behind her.

Okay, so maybe people had started noticing. But really only those who were mutual friends of Rachel and Quinn. At least those were the only people speaking up anyway...

"Woah, what the hell..." Finn said, walking through the door, placing his eyes on Rachel and Quinn. "Did I miss something?"

"You miss everything, Finncompetent," Santana voiced, not even having to think of insults anymore. She smirked at her talent. It just came naturally.

"What's going on with you two? Why are you dressed alike?" He asked Rachel.

Quinn just rolled her eyes at the boy. How could one person annoy her so much just by talking? When neither of them answered he took a seat behind Rachel but couldn't take his eyes off of her. Or Quinn for that matter. It was like the Twilight Zone to him.

Mr. Schuester walked into the room, handed some sheet music to Brad and turned to the group.

"Uh, should I be worried about this?" He motioned between Quinn and Rachel who both shook their heads while half of the group nodded.

"Okay then! Let's get started," he said, clapping his hands together. "I've decided on duets."

The students all groaned in unison.

"I know, I know. We've done it before, but I noticed you're at your best when you work together. So, once again, pick from the hat!"

Quinn eyed the hat placed on top of the piano. She hated that hat more than anything. It held too many options. Some good, some bad and some worse than death. In fact, she often spent time daydreaming about ways to destroy said hat. Why couldn't they choose their own partners?

"Mike, you're up!"

The boy jumped up from his chair and dug his hand into the hat. "Artie!" He exclaimed, running over to his partner and fist bumping him.

"Brittany, go!"

She smiled that hundred watt smile and skipped up to the hat before staring at it for nearly 10 seconds as if she were trying to listen to it's thoughts.

"Santana!"

The Latina grinned as the rest of the club expressed completely confusion.

"How the hell do they get each other every time?" Finn wondered.

"It's like black magic or something, bro," Puck added.

Santana turned to face the two with an angelic smile on her face... which of course scared them.

"Fate has laid a hand, boys," she said before turning back to Brittany who was now seated next to her once again.

"Rachel, you're up," Mr. Schue said, wondering if she would throw another diva tantrum if she wasn't paired with her mail lead, Finn. As far as teacher knows, she's still smitten with him.

She approached the hat with caution. She knew this could go two completely different ways.

"Not Finn. Not Finn. Anyone but Finn," she whispered to her.

As she began to reach in the hat, Brad stood up and 'accidentally' knocked over the hat with his elbow.

Without saying anything, (has he _ever _said anything?) Brad knelt down next to Rachel to help her pick up the scattered pieces of paper. He picked up the last piece, and smoothly slid it in to Rachel's hand with a wink.

She quickly glanced at the piece of paper which held Quinn's name before making her hand into a loose fist not to lose the paper.

Brad put the hat back on the piano and Rachel took her cue, reaching into the hat. She slid the paper from her palm to the tips of her fingers before pulling out again.

She looked at the paper, wondering how Brad knew.

"Quinn," she said with a smile that could outshine the sun.

Quinn returned the smile while Finn burned a hole in the back of her head. He immediately wanted to call out that they cheated but he knew he had no reasoning to support such an accusation. He slumped down into his chair and sulked for the rest of the hour, showing no interest when he was partnered with Mercedes.

When Mr. Schuester released the club, Rachel made her way over to the piano as everybody else but Finn and Quinn filed out.

"Thank you," Rachel said, grabbing Brad's attention. He could tell she meant it and gave her a smile and a nod in return before gathering his sheet music and leaving the room.

The diva turned around expecting to see nobody but Quinn and was startled by Finn's presence.

"Hey Rach, can I talk to you for a minute?"

'_This boy just won't give up, will he?' _Quinn thought.

Rachel nodded. She could at least give him that.

"In private?"

'_No,' _Quinn thought.

"I didn't ask you," Finn shot back.

_'Wait, did I say that out loud?' _

"Finn, anything you have to say to me will be said right here. Quinn's isn't leaving."

_'Damn straight I'm not leaving.'_

"Fine," he said quickly glaring at Quinn. "I've done a lot of thinking about what you said. I know what I did was wrong."

"Which was?" Rachel asked, wondering if he actually had listened instead of zoning out like he usually did.

"I know I really haven't supported you lately and-"

"See, that's untrue. You have. Or at least you've tried but never in front of anybody else. You never let anyone see that you were there for me. I'm nothing to be ashamed of, Finn. If you can't stick up for me in front of our closest friends, how can I expect anything above that from you? You proved to me that you are still all about image and I don't need that."

Quinn winced at Rachel's words. _Image._

"I know, and I'm working on fixing that," he offered.

"I can see that, Finn, which is why I'm extending an offer of friendship," she said calmly.

Quinn visibly winced at her offer.

"But I want us to be together, Rachel. I'm my best when I'm with you," he said, taking her hand into his own.

She pulled her hand away quickly and stepped back.

"But _I'm not._I'm not my best when I'm with you, Finn. When I was with you, I lost myself. I lost my drive, my ambition to be who I'm meant to be. I'm my best when I'm with-"

She stopped herself. No need for word vomit right now.

"Someone else," she said, not looking into his eyes. "I'm with someone else."

"Yeah, but they're not me! We're supposed to be together!"

Quinn had just about enough of this.

"Oh, yeah, I think I saw that written in the Bible," she said to herself.

"Shut up, Quinn!"

Apparently Finn had heard.

"Don't talk to her like that!"

"Why do you care? You're barely even friends!"

Quinn really wanted to laugh at this. She thought it was obvious that they were friends. She wasn't argyle clad for nothing.

"It doesn't concern you, Finn!" Rachel was getting angrier by the second. "Just leave me alone, okay? I'll accept your friendship when you accept that I don't want to be with you anymore. You're a good friend, Finn. Or at least you can be. But that's all it will ever be, I'm sorry."

Finn huffed at the mess this conversation had lead to.

"That will change, Rachel. It always does." And with that, he was gone.

Rachel let out a sigh of complete relief once he had left.

"He's stubborn," Rachel said, taking Quinn's hand.

"He's an idiot who needs to keep himself in check before I kick his ass."

Rachel giggled at Quinn's protective state.

"I can't imagine what he'll say when he finds out you're the one I'm with," Rachel said, leaning her head on Quinn's shoulder.

"Can I record his reaction?"

Rachel couldn't tell if she was joking or not which slightly worried her.

"Let's get you home," the smaller girl said, finally leading Quinn out of the choir room.

Quinn groaned at the conversation she knew she'd be having once she entered her house.

"You'll be fine," Rachel said, squeezing Quinn's hand. "And I"ll be here for you. Always."

_Always_. Quinn's new favorite word.

* * *

**It must seem that I'm making a habit out of not updating regularly but I promise I'm not. This was scheduled to be up what seems to be ages ago, but there was a death in the family, then I became ill, and then another death. Sorry that you had to wait so long, but I'm sure you can understand why.**

**Anyway, thank you so much for all of the reviews. I seriously love them more than anything. They make my day brighter with every one I read. You all are just so kind.**

**Keep reviewing! I'm kind of itching to know what you all think of Finn here and if there's anything in particular you want me to do with him. I'm always open to suggestions/input. Thank you again! I love you all.**

_**Ps. All mistakes are mine.**_


	12. Born This Way

_'Breathe, Quinn. Breathe.' _

Opening the front door to her own house, Quinn was nothing but nervous. She couldn't recall ever having a serious panic attack in which she hyperventilated, but she predicted one to be in her near future.

_'Your mom loves you, no matter what. That's what the Berry's said. So, just breathe..._'

Judy walked into the living room and greeted Quinn with a smile but the only thing her daughter could see was worrying eyes. Quinn smiled back briefly before her eyes started tearing up. The feeling of fear was dripping from Quinn's pores and Judy cursed herself for ever letting it get to that point.

'_God, you're so weak,' _Quinn thought to herself as she let the tears run down her cheeks. Within seconds she was in her mother's arms, clinging on for dear life as she soaked through Judy's cardigan with her tears.

"It's okay, Quinnie," Judy soothed her. "Everything will be okay, I promise."

She continued rubbing small circles on the girl's back as she started crying herself. She'd never let Quinn become this frightened by her own mother again.

"I love you," Judy reminded her daughter. "I love you _so_ much and nothing- I mean absolutely _nothing_ will change that, do you understand?" She kept her voice soft and warm.

Quinn nodded against her mother but showed no sign of ceasing her tears.

Her mother guided her over to the couch to sit and Quinn gripped her mother even tighter. They sat that way for a good five minutes before Quinn's breathing was back in control and she slightly pulled away from the older woman.

"Quinn, look at me," Judy insisted, cupping her daughter's cheeks.

And so Quinn did.

"I'm so sorry," she began as another tear slid down her cheek. "I'm so sorry that you felt you couldn't come to me with this. But you must know that I love you. This is not something about you that I'll just tolerate, Quinnie, it's something that I will fully embrace. It's a small part of a wonderful you. A wonderful you that I couldn't imagine my life without."

Tears spilled from Quinn's eyes again but this time not because she was scared, but because she was happy.

"I love you, mom," she said, hugging her tightly again.

They stayed in a comfortable silence for a minute. Quinn almost felt like she was dreaming. She'd never been this close with her mom and it was all a little overwhelming at first but she soon thought she could definitely get used to it. Her mom really did love her no matter what and this was the first time since she was a little girl that she truly believed her.

"Mom?"

Quinn pulled away from the hug to look Judy in the eyes.

"Yes, dear?"

Quinn took a deep breath.

"I... I'm gay."

Judy smiled a smile that could challenge Rachel Berry, _(but only on an off day for the diva.) _

"I know, honey," she said, kissing her daughter on the head.

"I know you know," Quinn smiled. "I just had to say it." 

* * *

Quinn woke up the next morning to the blasting sounds of...

'_Is that... Lady Gaga?' _

She got out of bed and made her way down the stairs, the music become louder and louder. As she entered the kitchen, she saw her mother making breakfast as she danced around the kitchen singing to _Born This Way_.

_'Oh god, another reason to be embarrassing...' _Quinn thought as her mother did a spin before flipping the egg.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Quinn said, grabbing Judy's attention.

Judy just smiled at her daughter before returning to singing and cooking.

"I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way!"

Quinn physically face-palmed. She didn't think her mom would embrace this so quickly. Crossing her fingers, she silently wished that her mom wouldn't become one of those crazy pro-gay parents that go to every gay festival in the surrounding area, yelling to the world that their child is gay and they couldn't be more proud.

_'Please, don't,' _Quinn prayed.

"Ooh, there aint no other way! Quinnie was born this way!"

"Mom, please!" The atmosphere was becoming a little uncomfortable for Quinn. She was thrilled to be able to see how openly supportive her mother was, but there's a time for everything and now was not it.

Quinn went over to the radio and turned the volume down before shutting it off.

"Sorry dear, I'm just trying to be supportive," she said, putting the egg onto a plate next to bacon and toast.

Her daughter nodded, before sitting at the counter.

"It's just... I-I think you're more out of my closet than I am," Quinn said, only stuttering once.

Judy's inner checklist dinged as Quinn, once again, addressed the fact that she was gay. The older woman had been reading for weeks on how to keep a healthy relationship with your child once they came out. One main point was making sure the subject wasn't voodoo around the house. By being over-supportive, Judy figured Quinn would feel completely comfortable in talking about it.

And she was right. She held completely confidence in Quinn's confidence.

"Could you just... y'know, keep it to yourself for a while?" Quinn asked.

"Sorry, honey," Judy said, setting the food in front of Quinn. "Of course I can."

She made her way over to her daughter, kissed her on her forehead and left the room.

Things were definitely looking up for Quinn.

Her mind drifted to Rachel as she got ready for school, (but when didn't it?) and how she had been completely right yesterday. Her mom loved her no matter what. She had to. But her classmates and teachers (And by teachers, she does just mean Sue) didn't have to. While she knew her friends in glee, minus Finn, would back her up no matter what, she couldn't say the same for the rest of the school, especially the Cheerios.

But that wasn't important right now. What was important was she was out to the only important family left in her life, she had an amazing girlfriend and she felt 100% loved.

Quinn grabbed her phone from the nightstand and turned it on.

**1 New Text Message  
Fr: Rachel*  
'1/2 I trust everything went well seeing as you did not try to contact me in any way last night. In which case, I'm proud of you, baby! I was right in having complete**

**2/2 confidence in you. You're the strongest person I know. I'll see you at school. xoxo'**

Quinn chuckled at the text that came in two parts before she smiled at how supportive her girlfriend is.

She finished putting on her shoes and quickly made her way down the stairs and to the door.

"I'm going to school now!" Quinn yelled to her mom from the doorway.

Judy rushed in and quickly gave her daughter a hug.

"You look lovely, Quinn," she said, lightly tugging Quinn's perfectly curled ponytail and her squeaky clean Cheerios uniform. "Rachel sure is a lucky girl."

Quinn raised her eyebrow at the statement because even though everything was fine between the two, it was definitely going to take some time to get used to hearing her mom talk about it so casually, especially when it involved Rachel. But mostly she raised her eyebrow at the fact that her mom had it all backwards.

Quinn was the lucky one.

* * *

**So, this is super short. It might even be the shortest short chapter ever in the history of short chapter time. But I just wanted to get this out. The next update will most likely be tomorrow so don't panic!  
**

**Also, thank you so much for the reviews! I can't believe this story broke 100. You are all such perfect darlings.**  
**Keep reviewing, it keeps me writing!**

_**All mistakes are mine. **_**  
**


	13. Karofsky

Leaving her house for school, Quinn stopped to take in the beautiful weather. It was slightly cold, seeing as it was well into September, but the sun was shining bright the sky was blue with a few white clouds scattered across it.

Quinn sighed with relief, suddenly feeling weightless. She hadn't realized how much stress the whole situation had been causing her until it was resolved. She was out to her mom who accepted and loved her no matter what and it felt _good_. It was like she lost 50 pounds of pure fear and could finally breathe.

"Hey, Q."

"Hey, San," she said, smiling at her friend.

"What's with the grin, Cheshire?"

Quinn leaned into Santana so nobody else could hear.

"I came out to my mom. Er- rather she outed me?" Quinn furrowed her eyebrows and squinted, trying to figure out how it really went down. "Either way," she rushed. "She's completely okay with it."

She felt as if she had just recovered from an illness she didn't know she had.

"B, come hug Q," Santana ordered, not wanting to show her friend any affection while in school. Other people could see, you know.

Without a single question, Brittany immediately slammed her locker shut and ran over to Quinn, grabbing her and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Britt, I can't breathe," Quinn squeaked out before Brittany finally let go.

"I love Q hugs," she beamed.

Brittany loved all hugs.

Quinn just smiled at her taller friend.

"I'm gonna go find Rach, I'll see you guys later," she said before rushing off.

"Bye Quinn!" Brittany yelled before turning to Santana, who quickly locked their pinkies before starting down the hall themselves. "Why was I hugging Q? Not that I'm complaining, I love hugs. Especially your hugs."

"Because Q just came out to her mom and we're proud of her," she said. "But it's still a secret, okay B?"

The blonde nodded, understanding completely.

* * *

"Rachel!" Quinn said a bit louder than normal, grabbing the girl's attention.

Rachel closed her locker to face her girlfriend who was beaming which caused Rachel to smile herself. She read Quinn's expression like a book and her eyes lit up.

"Quinn, I am _so _proud of you," she said, pulling Quinn into a hug. "It's not always an easy thing to face."

"It wasn't," Quinn said, pulling back from Rachel. "But I'm glad it happened. I feel so much better about _everything_. I just wish our school situation was as easy," she said, changing the happy topic to one with a darker tone.

"We'll get there, eventually, Quinn," the brunette promised her. "But right now, just be happy at what you've accomplished. Your relationship with your mother has hit an all-time high, about one third of our friends know about us," she said quietly, "and you have an amazing Broadway-bound girlfriend," she said with pride.

"You're so full of yourself," Quinn said with a playful tone.

"But I have every right to be," she replied with a smile.

"You're right though," the blonde said, taking Rachel's hand and leading the girl to her first class. "Things are finally looking up."

* * *

"Hey, Rach!" Finn's voice boomed over everybody else's.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Quinn said and Rachel hushed her cursing. "Sorry Rach, but I swear to god, I think he has microphones on us and he was waiting for the absolute perfect time to ruin my day. We're wired and we don't even know it!"

Rachel giggled at her girlfriend.

"I'm sure we're not wired," she said. She gave Quinn's hand a squeeze before letting go. "Don't worry about him. Just go to class and I'll see you at lunch, okay?"

The blonde nodded, smiled at Rachel and left. Of course, while making her way down the hall, she was plotting different ways to ruin decapitate Finn. She evilly chuckled to herself the entire way to class.

Sitting down next to Finn, wondering if she'd regret it later, Rachel pulled out her Algebra II book. She was actually thankful it was her first class because it was her worst class. She liked to pretend school started after the first class, effectively knocking math from her education completely.

"Hi Finn," she said politely.

"So," he started.

"My dads told me you came by the other day. I'm sorry I wasn't there."

She wasn't sorry.

"It's okay. I just wanted to talk to you about... well, what I talked to you about yesterday, which I'm sorry about by the way," he said quickly before she could say anything else. "I was way out of line."

Understatement.

"Yes, you were," she agreed with him without thought.

"I'm really sorry, Rachel, and I was hoping you'd give me another chance?"

Not this again.

"To be your friend, I mean..."

She couldn't help but smile. Maybe he finally understood.

"Of course, Finn. Everybody deserves a second chance."

He gave her his signature goofy smile before turning his attention to the teacher who had just started his lesson.

* * *

"You forgive too easily," Quinn said, poking at her salad.

"I thought that was one thing you liked about me," Rachel wondered.

"Don't get me wrong, it is." Quinn turned to her girlfriend. "I love that about you... that you can just give second chances away like free candy and that you always see the good in people, but sometimes I just think that he doesn't deserve your kindness."

Rachel understood that Quinn was just concerned.

"Trust me, Quinn. When he doesn't deserve it, he won't receive it. I'll be able to tell."

She trusted her. More than anything. She just didn't trust Finn. To her, Finn's motives were shady. He didn't seem genuine at all, not like the boy she used to know. And she was praying he'd prove her wrong.

"Hey chicas," Mercedes said, sitting across from them.

"Hey Mercedes," they both said in unison which caused the girl to laugh.

"Oh man, I knew you guys had it bad for each other but I didn't think it had gone this far. Can you read each other's minds too?" She chuckled at herself.

Across the table, Quinn and Rachel's eyes were wide.

"Wait, you know?" Quinn asked, a little panicked.

Mercedes dropped her fork onto her tray. "Umm, yeah?"

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed.

"Girl, you know I know," she said before she became a little confused as well. "Don't you?" Rachel just shook her head. "Uh, the night you slushied her," she said pointing from Quinn to Rachel, "you told me you were into her."

Pause.

"And by the looks of it, you're into her too."

Silence.

"And then Kurt confirmed it."

And there's the last puzzle piece.

Kurt sat down at the table, right on cue. "What did I miss?"

"Well, neither of them knew that I knew even though Rachel knew that I knew since she knew..."

Kurt looked at her like she was crazy.

"Whatever, you know what I mean," she said, picking up a tater tot and popping it in her mouth.

"No, I don't," he said before shaking his head and turning to Rachel and Quinn, an eyebrow raised.

Quinn was as confused as Kurt so she remained completely silent, looking at Rachel.

"I guess I forgot that Mercedes knew how I felt towards Quinn so when she acknowledged the fact we are, in fact, an item, I was a little astounded," she explained.

"Oh, yeah, nobody knows," Kurt turned to Mercedes and explained.

"One detail you forget to tell me and it's that?" She threw a tot at his head.

"Thank you, Mercedes," he said picking up the tot that bounced off of his head and onto the table and tossing it behind him, accidentally hitting a freshman in the face.

"Anyway, yes. Nobody knows, so if you could manage to keep this information to yourself, that would be much appreciated," Rachel told her.

She nodded in understanding. "You got it, girl."

Rachel looked over to Quinn who seemed to be counting on her fingers, extremely concentrated.

"You okay, babe?"

Mercedes choked on her water at that and everybody stared at her.

"Sorry," she said with a final cough. "Something I just gotta get used to."

Rachel focused her attention back on Quinn. "Quinn?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. So, that's, what, four out of how many? If we keep going at this pace, maybe I won't have a heart attack in the middle of hallway," she smiled at her girlfriend who thankfully picked up on her joke.

"Dork," she said, smiling at her nevertheless.

"They are just so cute!" Kurt gushed.

Mercedes rolled her eyes, not disagreeing with him but not encouraging his behavior. She knew he thrived off of other people's relationships and she was considering looking online for some sort of support group.

_'At least he's moved on from movies,' _she thought as she remembered her best friend sitting in front of his television additively, watching every classic romantic movie in history, gossiping about it like they were real.

_'You see, Mercedes, he fell in love with __the courtesan__ but now his father is pleading with her not to marry his son! So she's pushing him away, it's completely tragic.'_

Mercedes chose to ignore his rambling, shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth, listening to the crunching it made instead of his voice.

Never again.

"Mercedes!" Kurt said, snapping his fingers in front of the girl's face.

"No more Greta, I'll do anything!"

Quinn laughed while Rachel and Kurt wondered what she was talking about.

"What?"

Mercedes ducked her head and explained that she zoned out.

"Anyway, we were wondering, since we only have a half day tomorrow, if you wanted to go to that Halloween store they just put up so we can get our costumes," he explained.

"Isn't it a little early, I mean there are like 10 days left of September and-"

He held his hand up to hush her. "Mercedes, please. This is Halloween we're talking about. If you don't have the best costume, you might as well be lying in a ditch somewhere."

She suddenly wondered why it took so long for Kurt and Rachel to become friends.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," she said, finishing her tots.

"Great! Well, I've already spent too much time in this hell hole of a lunch room. I think I can feel the grease in the air clogging my pores, so I'll see you girls later." And with that, he was gone.

"So what did I miss when I was zoning?"

"Puck is having a Halloween party, naturally," Quinn informed her. "And this time, Kurt is actually invited," she said getting up from her seat. "I'll be right back, I'm gonna get a bottle of water."

Rachel nodded, her mind barely wandering from the fact that she was invited to Puck's party. No surprise, really. After all, she was his 'hot fellow Jew'. She was thrilled nevertheless. She had been to Halloween parties before, but never one that wasn't either hosted by her aunt Ethel or one that wasn't from elementary school. This was a proper high school Halloween party.

Caught up in her excitement, she didn't even notice Karofsky coming her way, red slushie in hand. A rush of ice cold beverage washed over her face, running down her chest and into her shirt. She let out a slight shriek as she could hear laughter coming from the surrounding tables.

Quinn's attention immediately snapped back to Rachel who was completely covered in the drink. She dropped her water and ran back to Karofsky, who was leaning up against the table to Rachel's left, laughing at her.

She went into HBIC mode within seconds.

"What the fuck, Karofsky!" She yelled, silencing all laughter. He suddenly looked like a deer in the headlights.

"What?" He asked, not really understanding why she was upset. He slushied Rachel several times in the past and even witness Quinn do it at the football game. So what was the big deal?

Quinn snapped her fingers at Santana and Brittany and pointed at Rachel without ever breaking eye contact with Dave. The two Cheerios rushed over to the diva's side and took her to bathroom to get her cleaned up.

"You're coming with me," Quinn said before grabbing the athlete by the neck of his shirt and dragging him out of the cafeteria.

When they were in the empty hallway, she slammed him up against the locker. "What the fuck was that?"

"I slushied a loser, so what?"

Quinn bit her tongue before she yelled something stupid like _'Yeah, well she's _my_ loser.'_

She huffed, pacing a little before turning and looking him in the eye.

"I'm calling it now. Cease fire on Rachel Berry," she said sternly.

Karofsky was completely thrown back by this.

"Why? She's the biggest loser in the school! I'm only giving her what she deserves," he said.

Without even thinking, Quinn brought her hand hard against his face, effectively slapping him.

"She does _not _deserve to be slushied every single day. She doesn't deserve to worry about whether or not she has to bring an extra set of clothes to school every day and she doesn't deserve to be bullied by you of all people."

He wouldn't admit it, but he actually kind of felt bad for doing it. But he was a football player, a popular student and he had a reputation to hold on to. He felt sorry, but he didn't say a word.

"Are you even listening to me? Why would you think she deserves that?"

_'Please be a rhetorical question,'_he begged.

"Well?"

Damn.

He shrugged, looking down at the ground.

"Nothing?" She asked, still using a fierce tone. "Not a single goddamn clue?"

"Because she's a freak," he offered.

"Who the fuck says?"

"You did," he said, slightly confused.

That's all it took. Quinn's bottom lip started quivering and soon a tear fell from her cheek. She covered her face with her hands, completely hating herself. He was right, she was the one who started the slushie facials on Rachel and this was all her fault.

"Quinn?" Dave touched her arm lightly, trying to comfort her even if he had no idea why she had started crying in the first place. He figured if Quinn could show her emotions in front of him, he could too.

Nobody actually knew that he was a pretty decent guy, especially outside of school.

"Why are you being nice to me?" She asked, seriously not understanding why. He was mean to nearly everybody, however it might have been at Cheerio order.

He just shrugged and offered a small smile.

"I'll stop the slushies on her, I swear," he said, wondering if that would make her feel better.

"Thank you. Tell everyone else too, and if they have a problem with it, tell them they can take it up with me," Quinn said, leaving the harsh tone behind this time. "You can go now."

But he didn't move. Quinn looked up at him, prepared to bring out the HBIC look if needed.

"Can I ask why?"

"Why what?" She wasn't in the mood for this at all.

"Why are you protecting her all of a sudden?"

She gave a slight smile, wondering if she should even dare bring it up. Could she trust him? Whatever, she was Quinn fucking Fabray. She did what she wanted.

"Y'know, Kurt told me something about you. He told me to keep it a secret. And I have," she said, looking straight into his eyes which suddenly expressed panic.

"Yeah, what's that?" He spit back, trying to seem tougher than he really was.

"I think you know." He looked ready to bolt. "But you know what?"

He shook his head, wondering where this was going.

"I am too," she said softly, still locking eyes with him.

His eyes went wide for a split second before he looked at the ground. If she could trust him, he could trust her. Right?

"Dave?"

He looked back up at her, suddenly wanting to cry. He wouldn't though. After all, he's still Dave Karofsky. He scoffs at emotions.

"It's okay," she said, offering a smile. "I'll keep yours if you keep mine."

He smiled too and nodded.

Quinn held out a fist which Dave gratefully connected his own to with a slight chuckle before heading back into the lunch room. Quinn, on the other hand, ran to the girl's bathroom to help Brittany and Santana get Rachel cleaned up.

"Alright, listen up!" Dave yelled to the cafeteria, quickly silencing every single table. "Rachel Berry is officially off limits! You slushy her, you deal with me! Got it?"

He noticed a few scared glances and a few confused ones (mostly from the rest of his team) but whatever, he got his point across.

Yeah. Dave was alright.

* * *

**I like me some Karofsky.**

You guys are so lucky that I even got this up. My computer has been crashing like mad, flashing the blue screen of death every once in a while. Oh well, Faberry fic is more important than my computer's health! Hehe.

Thanks again for the reviews. I wish I could express to you how much they mean to me without coming off as a total freak. But seriously, they make me so happy!

So keep reading and reviewing and I'll keep writing! Love you all!

Oh, and sorry I uploaded this about 5 times or so. Half of it was/might still be in italics and I couldn't fix it, so if it is, I apologize.

Again, mistakes are mine.


	14. Ready

That day, after glee, Rachel and Quinn were relaxing on Quinn's couch while her mother was at work.

"Quinn?"

The blonde opened her eyes to look at her girlfriend who was currently wrapped up in the taller girl's arms. Rachel's head was resting on Quinn's chest, listening to her heart beat.

"Hmm?"

Rachel looked up at Quinn through her eyelashes.

"N-not that I'm complaining or anything, it's just... why did the student body part like the Red Sea when I walked down the hall on my way to glee club?" She was beginning to think it was another joke, like they could catch 'the gay' from her if they went anywhere near her or something, but then she figured it had to do with Quinn.

"Probably because I called off all slushie attacks on you," she stated simply.

"What?" Rachel looked taken aback.

"Well, I Dave did," she said. "Karofsky. Um, I told him to tell everybody that you're off limits."

Rachel smiled and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek.

"Well, it seems they received the message," Rachel said, snuggling back into Quinn. "It felt kind of... cool," she admitted. "I felt like _I_ was cool. Suddenly popular or something. Royalty."

"You are royalty," Quinn said, gently stroking Rachel's long hair. "More than that." She kissed the top of her head and continued to run her fingers through Rachel's hair.

Rachel squeezed Quinn a little tighter and let her eyes shut. She loved having her hair played with.

A few minutes passed in comfortable silence before either girl spoke again.

"Quinn?"

The blonde girl smiled. She knew Rachel couldn't keep quiet for too long.

"Yes, baby..."

Rachel blushed at that. She absolutely _loved_that she called her that.

"Don't you care what people must be thinking? I mean, why you called off the slushies?"

"Not at all," she said, not even really having to think about it. Had it been a week ago, she would have cared. But now knowing that so many people had her back, it made it all easier. Especially with Rachel by her side. Everything was easier.

Rachel opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but closed it almost immediately. She repeated the action about three times before Quinn was dying to know what was on her mind.

"Spit it out, sweetie."

Rachel sighed, wondering if she was asking too much, too soon.

"Does this mean we can-" she stopped, looking for the right words. "Can we... I-I mean are you ready-"

Quinn cut her off with a giggle. "You mean, can we hold hands in the hallway when I walk you to class? Can I kiss you on the cheek when we part ways? Can we sing together in glee? Am I ready to publicly be yours and only yours?"

Rachel just looked at her with wide eyes and nodded, which Quinn of course thought was absolutely adorable. She ran her index finger along Rachel's jaw before lifting her chin up and placing a kiss on her lips.

"I'm ready for all of that and more," Quinn said, placing her lips on Rachel's again. The kiss was slow and full of promise.

Rachel only pulled away so she could look into Quinn's hazel eyes, one of her favorite features. She especially loved the golden specks. The expression Quinn wore told Rachel that she was serious. She was ready.

Rachel kissed her again, harder this time. She twisted her body so they were chest to chest. Her hand immediately went to the back of Quinn's neck, attempting to close all space between them. Her tongue slid against Quinn's bottom lip before making it's way into her mouth, colliding with her girlfriend's. Wandering hands ran up and down Rachel's body back before finally resting on her lower back.

If Quinn were to be completely honest, she was still a little scared to come out to the school, but not because of Rachel. As much as she wished it weren't true, she was still worried about her social status. A part of her still really did believe that her ticket out of Lima was through a cheerleading scholarship, as sad as that sounded. Rachel always told her differently. She told her she could do absolutely anything she wanted to with her life. But it was Quinn's mind set early on that she wasn't good at much, but she was a damn good Cheerio.

It was her future vs. Rachel. But ultimately, it was her future _with _Rachel. Because without the diva in her life wasn't much of a life at all.

And that's how the decision was made. Quinn was ready to come out. Completely.

Quinn let out a throaty moan as Rachel placed her hand just below Quinn's breast. She continued her kisses from her mouth, to her jaw and landed on her neck, causing Quinn to tilt her head for better access. When Rachel's hand finally made it where she wanted it to be, she gave a soft squeeze, feeling the vibration of Quinn's moan on her throat as she continued to kiss, bite and suck every inch of flesh.

"Rachel," Quinn breathed out.

Rachel's hand snaked under her girlfriend's Cheerio top, dragging her fingers down her abdomen. She pulled back and looked Quinn in the eyes, wondering if she had gone too far. They've done their fair share of groping in the past but never underneath the clothing.

When Rachel caught sight of Quinn's swollen lips and the marks she had made on her neck, she almost came undone.

Kissing the blonde one last time, she pulled her hand from under her top and sat up a little. Quinn looked confused and slightly displeased.

"Sorry," Rachel said, blushing slightly.

Quinn furrowed her eyebrows.

"For what?"

'_Stopping? Because I'm sorry she did that too.'_

"Sometimes I get a little carried away," Rachel replied.

Quinn _loved _when Rachel got carried away but they both decided to take it at least semi-slow. So she nodded in understanding and sat up herself.

Perfect timing too, because-

"Hello, girls!" Judy Fabray said as she made her way through the door, shutting it behind her.

"Hi mom," Quinn said, discretely wiping her mouth to remove any smeared lip gloss.

"Hi, Judy!" Rachel said, cheerfully. "How was your day?"

Judy sighed, placing her purse on the couch's end table.

"Same as usual, not too bad," she said, smiling. "And how was your day, my darlings?"

Rachel smiled in return before looking back at Quinn who seemed annoyed.

"It was quite interesting. Eventful, really," she said. She didn't particularly feel like going into the details. She knew if she told Judy she'd been slushied, she would turn into 'Super Mom' and call the school, demanding some sort of punishment for whoever dared such an act. It actually caused her heart to swell to see Judy care so much, but really, she didn't want to worry the woman over nothing. After all, the slushies were sure to stop, right?

"Anything I should be concerned about?"

Rachel shook her head and smiled.

"Well, I'll be in the kitchen making dinner which you're staying for, Rachel."

The brunette just giggled. She really loved Quinn's mom.

"We'll be in my room if you need us," Quinn said, grabbing Rachel's hand and leading her up the stairs.

Quinn sat down on the bed and waited for Rachel to do the same and when she did, Quinn pulled her onto her lap, wrapping her arms around her midsection. She just really loved having the girl all to herself.

"So when do you want to do it?"

Quinn's eyes snapped open. _'She doesn't mean...'_

"Is tomorrow okay or do you wan to wait?"

Quinn internally laughed at herself once she caught up.

"Not tomorrow," she said almost immediately. Rachel's face saddened at the abruptness. Was she rethinking?

"Okay..."

"I mean, not tomorrow because we don't have glee tomorrow. It's a half day. And I was thinking that we could do a duet as a way of telling everybody how crazy I am about you," she said, looking into chocolate eyes that suddenly smiled.

"A duet!" Rachel was thrilled.

"Mm-hmm!" Quinn nodded, knowing how happy this made her girlfriend. "Because I want to tell the club first. And then by game time, news will have spread to the rest of the school, effectively making us top gossip; practice for your future," she said as she winked at Rachel who was nothing but smiles.

"Then we have a weekend to breathe," Quinn added.

Rachel couldn't help but be nothing but proud of Quinn. Her lips crashed into Quinn's with excitement. She couldn't help but think how nice it was going to be, being able to share something with her friends that made her so incredibly happy.

Her dads would be happy too. Since she didn't really have a lot of people to talk to about Quinn, she talked their ears off 24/7 about how 'Quinn did this and Quinn did that and Quinn is so amazing, how lucky am I!'

"Oh my gosh!" Rachel shot up from Quinn's lap and rushed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Quinn called after her causing Rachel to stop and turn around.

"To pick out a song for us to sing together! I have to get home!"

Quinn shook her head and smiled at how absolutely excited Rachel was for this duet.

"Baby, you're staying for dinner, remember?"

Rachel pouted immediately.

"Okay, but right after dinner-"

"Plus," Quinn interrupted her. "I thought we could pick it together."

It was Quinn's turn to pout, something Quinn knew Rachel could not resist. As predicted, she made her way over to Quinn, kissing the pout right off her face.

"Anything for you," she whispered into the kiss.

After dinner, the two spent an hour and a half skipping through several songs Quinn had on her iTunes and bringing up several songs on YouTube that Rachel suggested. Quinn didn't really care for any of them.

"Rachel, no. You know I can't sing Aretha."

Rachel remained silent as she scrolled through Quinn's music selection.

"Is this all you have?" She was becoming frustrated. Choosing a song together sounded romantic but they just couldn't agree upon anything.

"Well, my mom and I have a shared music collection downstairs," she offered her girlfriend, who she knew was growing upset.

Rachel immediately fled down the stairs and landed herself in front of a book shelf that was filled with CD's. She giggled at some and was impressed by others. Quinn knelt down next to her and started pulling out random CD's. A wide smile appeared on her face when she found a certain CD that she hasn't listened to since she was a little girl. It was one of her mom's favorites which with time became one of her's too.

"Babe..."

"Yeah?" Rachel asked, not even looking at Quinn. Her eyes were busy at the moment, running over titles of song's on the backs of the cases.

Quinn started humming a familiar tune and Rachel froze and listened closely. It didn't take but a second to recognize. She dropped the CD in hand and turned to Quinn, eyes wide and sparkling.

"It's perfect!" She exclaimed, tackling Quinn to the ground and covering her face with kisses. 

* * *

**I got a new computer, yay! So now it won't randomly shut off while I'm trying to write. Thus, it won't take forever and a day to update! Woo! Notice, I did change the rating because eventually there will be sexy times. Just a heads up. But I'm sure you'll all dig it anyway, am I right?**

**I'm so glad you liked the way I added Karofsky because I know some people really can't stand the poor guy but my heart really does go out to him.**

**Thanks again for all the reviews. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate them! Keep it up and I will too! Love you all!**

**Mistakes. They're still mine. ****  
**


	15. Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts

Quinn walked into school that day sans Cheerio uniform. It was a half day so she really didn't care what Coach Sylvester had to say. Quinn was wearing fitted jeans, a yellow t-shirt that hugged her curves perfectly and a cute black cardigan. Rachel could have just stared at her all day. As much as she loved the shortness and the view that the Cheerios uniform provided, she really did love to see her girlfriend in street clothes. Especially form fitting ones.

Oddly enough, Thursday was the day Rachel also decided to mix her wardrobe up a little. She too, wore fitted blue jeans. Her top was covered with a long sleeved black shirt and over it was Quinn's Led Zeppelin t-shirt she had given her. But her outfit still had that Rachel Berry touch. Her shoes were simple black Mary Janes with a little yellow flower button at the strap and she wore a yellow flower barrette in her hair to match.

If it weren't for the shoes and hair pin, Quinn would have said she looked pretty rock & roll. Nevertheless, the blonde still thought she looked hot.

"Nice shirt," Quinn said, slightly smirking, walking up to Rachel who was taking her math book out of her locker.

Truth be told, she absolutely_ loved_that Rachel was wearing her shirt.

Rachel looked at her girlfriend and smiled, taking in her outfit as well.

"Nice...everything," Rachel said, quietly as her eyes raked up and down Quinn's body which caused he blonde to blush. She really did love the form fitting clothing. Which reminded Rachel of something. She quickly shut her locker and faced Quinn.

"So after school, we're going costume shopping right?" Rachel asked, looking sly.

The taller girl squinted an eye at her, knowing she was up to something. She nodded.

"Good. I was thinking that we could have matching costumes. It may be viewed as corny and I know you think it's cliché, but I think it's cute. I find it would say a lot about our relationship as a whole. It would let people know that we mean business, we're in it for the long run and that against their assumptions, we are in fact a compatible pair."

Quinn looked like she was ready to laugh.

"Matching costumes say all of that?" Rachel just nodded.

"And what do you mean by matching? Please tell me we're not going to like... both go as devil's or something because I'm pretty sure Santana and Britt called dibs on that."

"Okay, maybe matching wasn't the right word. What I mean is, costumes that compliment each other. Ones that make sense. Like, ketchup and mustard."

Quinn's eyes widened.

"We are _not _going as condiments."

The shorter girl giggled before grabbing Quinn's arm and guiding her down the hallway to her first class, still keeping the conversation flowing.

"Quinn, I didn't actually mean that we're going as ketchup and mustard. It was just an example."

As they reached Rachel's first class, Quinn leaned in as if she were going in for a kiss. She quickly caught herself and stepped back, rolling her eyes at herself.

"I really hate this," she said, looking at the ground.

"I know," was all Rachel said before grabbing Quinn's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze before walking into her classroom.

As Quinn settled into her own class, her phone vibrated against her thigh. She pulled it out of her pocket, not even caring that the teacher was just beginning his lesson.

**1 New Text Message  
Fr: Rach  
'Soon, baby. Soon the world will know you're mine.'**

Quinn's heart fluttered as she read the text over and over again. She felt that she couldn't wait any longer but the wait would be worth it. As much as she shouldn't have liked the idea of it, she couldn't wait to see the look on Hudson's face when they sang their duet on Friday.

* * *

Soon enough, lunch came around. Sat at their table was the entire glee club except for Finn and Sam, who were sitting with the jocks. Finn didn't look like he was enjoying it all that much kind of made Quinn happy. She didn't like that about herself. She shouldn't have found joy within other people's pain, but Finn was on the top of her 'shit list' so she couldn't find the heart to care. Even though she knew Rachel had given him a second chance and said he only wanted to be her friend, trust could still not be given from Quinn's side. Not to Finn.

"Nice shirt, Berry," Puck said, sliding in next to her and Mike. He eyed the shirt, knowing he'd seen it before.

"Thank you, Noah," she said, beaming. She was fairly certain it was the first time he had complimented her clothing.

"Yeah, whatever. Zeppelin rocks." Ending the conversation, he shoved half a slice of pizza in his mouth, effectively grossing Rachel out.

"Halloween shopping after school, remember!" Kurt said, pointing his salad fork at the rest of the table.

"But it's not even near Halloween," Artie said from the end of the table.

"It's late September, Artie. October is only days away and the seasonal Halloween store went up yesterday. We've already missed a day's worth of shopping. What if all the good costumes are gone? What then? We can't all go as the same thing every year," he said, looking at nobody in particular.

"Hey, watch it. We look fucking sexy in red patent leather," Santana hissed.

"It's true," Artie agreed.

"Thanks, Wheels," Santana said genuinely, for once. She even kind of smiled at him.

"Be that as it may, I expect to see you all there at 1:30, sharp."

The group agreed, actually looking forward to Halloween shopping, even if all of them didn't admit it.

"I'm actually really excited," Tina said, poking at her food with her fork. "I love dressing up as something I know I'll never be. Pirates, ninjas..." she trailed off.

"Wait, you're not a ninja?" Brittany asked, seriously.

They dismissed Brittany's question as Puck interrupted anyway.

"What are you gonna wear, baby mama?" And that's when it hit him.

'_That's Quinn's shirt,' _he thought. He had seen it several times while Quinn stayed with him when she was pregnant. _'Why the hell is Berry wearing it?'_

Naturally, his head started to swim with images that were strictly rated R. He dismissed it, of course. They were just fantasies in his head. No way was Quinn actually with Berry. No way.

As the conversation continued Rachel was still insisting that she and Quinn wore matching costumes while Quinn begged her to rethink.

Rachel huffed.

"Let's just not talk about it until we get there," she offered. She was halfway into getting into a little tiff with Quinn. They rarely fought but when they disagreed on something, she hated it.

Quinn nodded, and grabbed Rachel's hand under the lunch table. She started drawing circles on the back of her hand with her thumb, calming the girl down.

Leave it to Rachel Berry to get so upset over costumes.

"But B, we already have our costumes."

Brittany pouted. She knew Santana couldn't say no whenever she did that.

"Okay, okay, fine. We can go with them."

Brittany clapped in excitement before high-fiving Artie and Puck.

The Latina just rolled her eyes at them.

_'This is going to be a long day,' _she thought to herself. 

* * *

When the group arrived at the Halloween shop all together, minus Sam and Finn who caught up with them ten minutes later, Quinn had to desperately remind herself that just because she wasn't in school doesn't mean she could hold Rachel's hand in front of her friends. She couldn't kiss her just because she wanted to. She couldn't tuck brown locks behind cute ears or put her arm around he protectively.

The blonde sighed as she watched Brittany and Santana walk through the store with their pinkies linked. She wished she could just tell the club right now and get it over with but Rachel was way too excited about the duet. Truth be told, she was too. Plus, they were knocking their assignment out of the way with it, too.

"Look at this!" Rachel said, running up to Quinn with an Alice in Wonderland costume. It looked a little to sexy to even be considered Disney related. "Put it on!"

Quinn smiled at how excited Rachel was.

"Are we still doing the whole matching thing?"

Rachel bit her bottom lip, contemplating. Quinn wished she wouldn't because that specific act made her want to kiss her senseless.

"If you put this on right now, I might reconsider."

Quinn cocked an eyebrow.

"You just want to see me as a slutty Alice!"

Rachel feigned shock.

"I want no such thing," she said, pushing Quinn into a changing stall.

Quinn sighed and obliged. While putting on the white knee-high socks with the tiny blue bows at the top, she wondered why Rachel wasn't the one wearing this costume. It was definitely more her. She slid the dress on and reached for the zipper, but only getting it up an inch or two.

"Rach? I need your help," she said from behind the curtain.

The other girl slid in and was met with Quinn's bare back.

"Could you zip me up?"

Rachel grabbed the zipper that rested on Quinn's lower back. She brought it up slowly, dragging her fingers softly against bare skin. Before zipping it up completely, she placed a soft kiss on her shoulder causing goosebumps to spread across Quinn's skin.

She turned around to face Rachel, having put the entire costume on.

"Well?"

"It compliments your body very nicely."

That was Rachel's way of saying it looked hot.

"I feel like Walt Disney is rolling in his grave," Quinn said, turning back to look in the mirror.

"Actually, Quinn, Walt Disney was cremated. His ashes were spread in Glendale, California."

"Is there anything you don't know?" Quinn said, turning back to Rachel and giving he a quick peck on the lips who decided that it wasn't enough. She found Quinn's lips again, kissing her slowly this time. When she pulled away, she wore a smile.

"I love kissing you," she admitted to the blonde who blushed at the words. She kissed her one last time before pushing her out of the changing room so she could get out of the rather uncomfortable costume.

Just as Quinn had finished changing back into her own clothes, she left the dressing room only to be bombarded by Rachel again.

"Look! Hogwarts uniforms!"

There was absolutely no getting out of this one. Rachel Berry secretly loved Harry Potter. Truth be told, Quinn did too. Except her's wasn't so secret. She proudly hung a Order of the Phoenix poster next to her Star Wars one in her bedroom.

Rachel loved nerdy Quinn.

In the end, Kurt left with a Lady Gaga costume, claiming he could pull it off almost as well as Mother Monster. Santana left with nothing. Brittany however begged Santana into letting her get an angel costume to mix it up this year. With a simple pout, Santana gave in. Plus the dress was really short, so bonus points for that.

Mike and Artie left with classic horror movie masks and outfits. This year, Artie was Jason Voorhees and Mike chose Michael Myers. Tina purchased a Queen of Hearts costume while Sam so predictably picked out an_ Avatar_ costume and 3 Avatar make-up kits, as if he didn't have enough already. Quinn laughed as she knew he had a stash of blue face paint.

Mercedes ironically chose Snow White and Puck chose the _Top Gun_ costume. Finn picked a red _Power Rangers_costume.

And without a doubt, Quinn gave into the whole matching deal and Rachel Berry left with a Gryffindor Hogwarts uniform, wand and all, while Quinn chose Slytherin, much to Rachel's horror.

"While I have respect for Slytherin, I think you're more of a Ravenclaw."

"What can I say, I worship the Dark Lord and I aspire to be a Death Eater," was all Quinn said before paying for both costumes.

Truthfully she thought, with her past included, Slytherin would be the only house to take her. She wasn't so sure she should have put so much thought into something so silly, but she couldn't help it.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Rachel gushed as they left the store.

Quinn really couldn't help but find her excitement to be downright adorable.

* * *

That night, the two practiced their duet for an hour straight before Quinn was far too exhausted to continue. She collapsed onto Rachel's bed and sighed happily.

The smaller girl climbed onto her bed and cuddled into Quinn's side.

"Tomorrow," she said, before kissing the top of Rachel's head and snaking her arms around her.

* * *

**I swear this chapter isn't completely irrelevant. Place your trust in me. I thought it was fun nevertheless. I hope you like it!**

**Thanks again for the reviews. Keep 'em coming!**


	16. Duet

"Good morning, my dear fathers!" Rachel exclaimed, bouncing down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Good morning, pumpkin," Leroy replied. "You seem chipper," he observed.

Rachel nodded, grabbing a piece of an already peeled orange and putting it in her mouth.

"Any particular reason?" Hiram asked after a moment of silence. It was unlike Rachel not to immediately inform them of why she was expressing a particular feeling. In fact, they had a hard time of shutting her up. Everybody did, though. Except Quinn. She knew perfectly how.

"Today, Quinn and I are singing our duet for the glee club!" She took another piece of the orange and shoved it in her mouth, chewing at a fast pace so she could continue speaking.

"Slow down, sweetie," her daddy said, putting a hand on her back. "If you choke and die, you can't perform," he joked.

"Bite your tongue!" Rachel yelled, putting a half of an orange slice back on the plate and giving her daddy a stern look.

She grabbed her bag which was sitting on the chair she was standing next to and swung it over one of her shoulders.

"As I was saying," she pressed on. "This is a really big deal for our relationship. Nobody in school, besides Santana, Brittany, Kurt and Mercedes, actually knows that we're an item. It's particularly a huge step for Quinn who used to be one-hundred percent concerned with public appearance and social status. My mind can't help to wander back to her pregnancy. Although her mother is on her side this time, she must be having painful flashbacks. It's only normal for someone who has experienced such rejection at a young age will take said rejection into consideration when something even slightly similar is currently happening in their life. I can't imagine what is racing through her mind at this point, and the day has only begun! But I know she can handle it," she finally paused. "She's ready and I'm incredibly proud of her," she finished, beaming.

The Berry men looked at each other before looking back to Rachel. Neither of them could figure out where she got her habit to ramble every time a question was asked.

"That's...uh, good?" Leroy offered. Hiram's attention was back on Leroy as he wasn't really sure what else to say.

"Yes," he said, looking back to his daughter. "Very good, Rachel. I'm proud of you both," Hiram replied, nodding.

"I'm sure you'll pull off the duet excellently!" Leroy said, gaining confidence. He kissed her on the head before grabbing his jacket off of the chair and putting it on. "Well, I'm off to work. Tell me how everything goes," he said, quickly hugging Rachel and giving his husband a kiss goodbye.

"Bye Daddy!" She yelled as he walked out the door. "Well, I must be going too. I've requested a free first period from my math teacher so I could practice for glee."

"And she allowed that?" He asked, bewildered.

"Well, kind of. As hard as that class is, I'm still getting an A, so I asked if I could study for another test in the library so long as I don't fall behind in my homework, and she let me. Although, I think she only allowed me a free period so I would stop talking. It's a curse and a gift," she said, shrugging.

"Rachel," Hiram said, suddenly serious. "Who taught you to lie to teachers?"

"Santana?" she said, hoping to place the blame on somebody else.

He shook his head. "Blaming other people for our actions, are we?"

"I learned that from Santana too," she said, quickly kissing him on the cheek and bouncing out the door.

* * *

When she arrived at school, she quickly made her way to the empty auditorium. She had sheet music under her arms, though she really didn't need it. As she was setting up the microphone, center stage, she heard one of the many doors close with a bang. She looked around, glancing at every door but couldn't see anyone or anything as the stage lights were on her. Everything else was dark. She had no idea that Quinn was now in the room with her.

"Hello?"

Quinn remained silent.

She shrugged it off and finished setting up the microphone.

Normally, she would have asked Brad to assist her, playing scales for at least 15 minutes before moving onto one of her many pieces she was working on. However, he was nowhere to be found. It didn't really bother her, she could handle it alone. After all, she had taken lessons since she was six. Plus, she always felt incredibly awkward speaking to the man as he never replied back. He just smiled.

She sat down on the piano bench and glided her fingers over the keys without making a sound. One of her favorite songs came to mind as she started gently hitting the keys. She didn't need music for this song.

As the piano continued, she took in a breath and began to sing softly.

"Time has come again and love is in the wind. Like some music in a dream, you made them all come true," she took a breath, "When you came inside my life, now I'm lost inside of you."

Her fingers continued playing as her voice grew a little louder and as it did, Quinn's heart started beating fast.

Rachel had sung this song many times before but it was only now that she realized it was actually relevant to her life. She was singing about Quinn. Feeling the lyrics run through her veins, she continued.

"Lost in the music and lost in your eyes, I could spend all my time – hearing songs you sing, feeling love you bring."

Watching Rachel drown herself in a song was one of Quinn's absolute favorite things to do. Her breath caught in her throat when the singer took a breathe, chest heaving.

"Darling, being close to you made all my dreams come true," she sang as a tear slid down her cheek. "When you came inside my life, now I'm lost inside of you," she finished the song early, her fingers playing the last note.

Rachel's voice never wavered, and it never shook. She never missed a beat and was always pitch perfect but Quinn could tell how vulnerable she was just by watching her.

She slowly began to clap, causing Rachel to jump right out of her seat, fully startled.

"Who's there?" She asked, wiping a remaining tear from her face.

Quinn climbed the small set of stairs that went up to the stage. Rachel's expression shifted from worried to relieved within a second. She immediately found Quinn's hand, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Why are you crying?" Quinn asked her, her face nearly buried in Rachel's brown locks. She rubbed circles on the girl's back.

"Because of you," Rachel whispered.

Quinn pulled back and looked at her with a puzzled face. She was suddenly worried she'd done something wrong, something to hurt Rachel. She would _never_forgive herself if that were the case.

Rachel read Quinn's panic and was quick to reply.

"Happy tears, I promise," she whispered, squeezing Quinn a little tighter.

"Good," the taller girl said, kissing her tear stained face.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in class," Rachel said, pulling back to look at her.

"I skipped," she said, before kissing Rachel lightly on the lips. "What about you, rebel? Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

Rachel giggled at 'rebel'.

"I convinced Mrs. Ward to give me a free period. Although, I may have lied to get it."

Quinn feigned shock.

"Rachel Barbra Berry, you _are_a rebel," she teased.

"I'm your rebel, though," Rachel said, smiling.

"Always," she said, kissing her again.

Rachel reluctantly pulled away and pushed herself away from Quinn.

"Nice try, Fabray. Distraction via soft lips," she accused, pointing a finger at her girlfriend. "I need to practice for our duet this afternoon!"

Quinn rolled her eyes. As if Rachel needed to practice for _anything_. Her talent was natural. Quinn was convinced that she could sing Broadway soundtracks in her sleep. She believed nobody's talent could surpass Rachel's and even though she'd never tell Rachel, she thought she was greater than Barbra herself. Keeping that opinion from Rachel wasn't so she wouldn't get a big head over it or anything, but she was legitimately concerned for her life. Rachel would view it as an insult to Barbra, no doubt and probably just kill her on the spot.

One way or another, Rachel Berry would be the death of her.

"Baby, you don't need practice. You're perfect," she said, sitting down on the piano bench.

"And that's because practice _makes _perfect, Quinn. Now, shush and listen."

And so she did.

* * *

"Oh man, I can't wait to see the look on Hudson's face when he realizes that Quinn gets to stick her hand in Rachel's cookie jar now instead of him," Santana said as Tina and Mike sat down at the lunch table.

"Santana!" Rachel hissed at her while Quinn choked on her water. "I assure you that nobody has 'stuck their hands in my cookie jar' as you so crudely put it."

"You're a virgin? My day just got better," Santana said, laughing.

"Sorry we can't all sleep around like you," Quinn snapped back.

The Latina put her hands up in surrender. "Calm yourself, Q. Plus, you know that I'm hopelessly devoted now."

Brittany smiled and kissed Santana on the cheek, causing the other girl to duck her head in embarrassment when Quinn chuckled.

"Yeah, whatever. All I'm saying is that it's gonna be freakin' awesome. Five bucks says he kicks a chair as he storms out."

"I'll put ten on that," Mike said while Sam offered twenty.

What was thought to be a joke turned into an actual bet. By the end of lunch, there was 60 dollars in the pool with only a few glee members betting that Finn wouldn't abuse an inanimate object in rage.

"Oh man, this is going to be so great," Santana said, looking pleased with herself.

Rachel and Quinn rolled their eyes simultaneously before getting up and leaving the lunch table.

"Finn is going to be so upset," Rachel said as they walked down a nearly deserted hallway. "I'm afraid he'll take his anger out on you."

It still made Quinn's heart soar to know that Rachel was still worried about her as ever before.

"I'll be fine, I can handle my own. I'm just worried about you. If he so much as lays a finger on you-"

The blonde was cut off by a kiss. One that luckily nobody saw. They didn't work that hard on a coming out duet only to blow it now.

"I love that you care so much. Protective Quinn is kind of hot," Rachel breathed into Quinn's ear.

Quinn full on blushed at the words that came out of her mouth.

As the students started flooding the hall, both girls made their way to Spanish class which they had together.

**1 New Text Message  
Fr: Rach  
'I'm getting so excited! I can't wait for glee!'**

Quinn smiled at the fact that even though they were only a seat away from each other, Rachel still defied school rules and texted her. She bit her lip and typed quietly on her phone.

**1 New Text Message  
Fr: Quinn-Bee  
'Me either, baby. I've always wanted to sing with you...' **

Rachel could not help the giant smile that spread across her face. She'd been longing to sing with her, too. For ages, really. She glanced over at Quinn who was secretively smiling at her. The brunette winked at her and faced back towards Mr. Schue who was going on about conjugating verbs. She tried so hard to concentrate but it was extremely hard. Rachel could feel hazel eyes on her, making her warm.

When the class finally ended, they parted their ways for their last class. _'Just an hour and a half until glee,'_ Rachel thought as she bounced her way into her last class.

It was possibly the longest hour and a half of Rachel's short life. She wasn't even paying attention to the teacher for the last 45 minutes of it. From tapping her pencil, to doodling in her notebook, to humming to herself, Rachel was driving herself crazy.

As the bell finally rang, Rachel jumped out of her seat and rushed to her locker, shoving all of her books in it and speeding off to the choir room. As usual, she was the first one in there. She always was.

She took her seat and eagerly waited.

"Welcome, Mercedes! Kurt!" Rachel exclaimed as the two entered the room.

"Girl, calm down, it's only glee," Mercedes said, sitting behind Rachel.

Rachel scoffed. It's _never_ 'only glee'.

"You know very well that today I will be singing my duet with Quinn, therefore it is not _just_glee, Mercedes. It's much more," she rushed out.

Mercedes just rolled her eyes even though she was secretly excited to hear the duet. She was, however, more excited to see the drama unfold before her eyes. This is why she was best friends with Kurt. It was something they both really appreciated. Who needed soap operas when you have McKinley?

Quinn entered the room next, looking slightly nervous. Rachel jumped from her seat, reading the expression on her face.

"You're not having second thoughts, are you? You're ready, Quinn, I know you are," she said, sounding panicked.

The Cheerio lightly laughed at her girlfriend. "I'm ready. I-I'm just nervous about singing with you," she admitted. "My voice can't hold a candle to yours, Rach."

Rachel couldn't help but smile. She loved all compliments, but compliments from Quinn were the best.

"Sweetie, you _know _I love your voice. It's so pure, so breathy," she said, trying not to think about it too much. Truth was, Quinn's voice was a huge turn on for her. "You're going to be amazing. Plus, you'll be singing with me. Even our voices have chemistry," she said, smiling.

It was so true.

Quinn nodded and returned the smile.

"Okay, so today is the day we start our duets," Mr. Schue said, entering the room a few minutes late. "Who's ready?"

Rachel's hand shot up immediately, as it always did. No surprise there.

"Okay, Rachel. Quinn. Let's hear it!" Mr. Schue smiled at the two who, in his eyes, seemed to be getting along pretty well.

Mr. Schue was pretty oblivious to everything.

"Thank you, Mr. Schue!"

Rachel turned and nodded to Brad, who looked to the band. They started playing the familiar tune. Eyes locked, Quinn and Rachel smiled at each other, a smile that was a conversation in itself. They were ready.

After eight measures, Rachel finally started.

"They say we're young and we don't know, we won't find out until we grow," she sang, looking directly into bright, hazel eyes.

Santana was smirking at the sight in front of her, her eyes darting from Quinn and Rachel to Finn who was clueless.

"Well, I don't know if all that's true 'cause you got me, and baby, I got you," Quinn continued, her voice fitting perfectly with the song she loved so much.

Mr. Schue looked slightly confused, but so far very pleased with the performance.

"Babe," they sang together, Quinn winking at Rachel who never broke eye contact with the blonde. "I got you, babe."

At this point, half of the club had furrowed eyebrows. Kurt held his hand to his heart, adoring the way the girls adored each other. Mercedes looked indifferent while Brittany swayed back and forth to the music. Puck was smirking, of course, while Sam suddenly looked like he just figured the universe out.

"I got flowers in the spring," Rachel sang lightly, grabbing onto Quinn's hand.

"I got you to wear my ring," she sang, nervously sliding a promise ring onto Rachel's finger.

Rachel was completely taken aback by the action that she almost missed her next line. She admired the ring on her hand, tears now in her eyes before taking Quinn's hand again and squeezing tight, belting out the next verse.

Santana's eyes were now glued on Finn as the girls kept singing in front of them.

Mike looked at Tina in question, who just shrugged and leaned in to kiss him. The music got to her.

The look on Finn's face ran from confusion, to understanding, right back to more confusion. By the time the song had ended and Quinn and Rachel were wrapped tightly in a hug, it finally hit him that this song was carefully chosen. It wasn't _just _a song.

"Excellent, girls!" Mr. Schue said, starting the eruption of applause. Sure, he was still confused, but he brushed it off.

Rachel couldn't hear the cheers from Brittany or the "Brava!" from Kurt. She was completely focused on Quinn and the ring on her finger.

She let a few tears slide down her cheeks and onto Quinn's top. She buried her face into her neck and kissed it lightly.

It took them a few moments to realize that they weren't the only ones in the room or that they were even in this room at all. They let go of each other the moment they heard Finn's voice.

"What the hell was that?" His voice boomed.

Quinn immediately went into HBIC mode. She turned and faced Finn with a fierce look on her face.

"Please tell me you brought a camera," Kurt stage whispered to Santana, who held up her phone, already recording.

"Dude, let it be," Sam said, putting his hand on Finn's shoulder.

"No!" Finn swatted his hand away and stood up. "What the hell, Rachel!"

The brunette cautiously turned to Finn, who looked angry and hurt.

"I knew there was someone else, I accepted that! But her!" He got closer to Rachel and Quinn immediately jumped in front of her and put her hands on her hips.

"Don't even think about touching her," Quinn warned through gritted teeth. "Don't even come near her."

"Shut up, Quinn! This doesn't concern you!" He yelled back.

If Mr. Schue had any plans to jump in, now would be the time. Really.

"Doesn't concern me? I'm her _girlfriend, _Finn."

Mr. Schue's eyes went wide. Okay, maybe he was right to stay out of this one. He wouldn't even know where to begin.

"No, this is wrong," Finn said, shaking his head. "Not you. Anybody but you."

Rachel grabbed Quinn's arm, moving her out of the way.

"Finn," she started softly. "I'm truly sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean to, I never wanted to. But I trusted you. I gave you a second chance, and this is how you repay me? I thought my friendship was worth more than that."

Finn looked ready to interrupt.

"I'm happy," she said, looking at Quinn who suddenly had soft eyes. "I'm really, really happy... and it's because of Quinn."

The tall boy looked disgusted. He really didn't want to upset Rachel more than he already had. He was pretty set on being her friend. It meant a lot to him that she even considered giving him a second chance. But he was beyond furious at this point. He thought very little of Quinn. He thought Quinn was nowhere near good enough for Rachel.

"I can't take this," he said, eyes locked with Rachel. "Not her. She's just going to hurt you, Rachel. It's what she does. She's nothing but a bitch."

So much for playing nice.

"Finn Hudson, you take that back right now!" Rachel yelled.

"Why should I?" He knew he shouldn't have called her that, but he was stubborn and wouldn't retract his statement now.

"I don't care how angry you are with me, Finn. But _do not_ take it out on Quinn. I know her. I know her more than you ever did and more than you'll ever care too. I know her more than you'll ever know me, so believe me when I say that Quinn is nothing but kindhearted. She's the sweetest person I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, and I'm not going to stand by and let you say otherwise. She makes me _happy_. Don't you get it?" She looked at him as if she didn't know him at all anymore. "Isn't that what matters in the end?"

Finn really felt like a jackass at this point. But he was still stubborn.

"I get it, Rachel, okay? I get it. No matter how sick this whole thing is, I get it. You're happy and it's not because of me," he said, finally, storming out right passed Rachel and out of the room.

"Fuck!" Santana shouted.

Everybody turned towards her with curious eyes.

"I lost the bet," she said with a shrug.

Sam got out of his chair and slowly made his way to Quinn and Rachel.

"So, even though Finn's my friend, I just want to let you both know, I got your back, no matter what."

Rachel engulfed him into a hug before pulling away and muttering a 'sorry' for squeezing him so hard.

"Thanks, Sam," Quinn said, extremely thankful for the support she wasn't sure she'd get.

"Same goes for me," Puck chimed in, making his way to them. "Finn's an ass and you're both hot."

Rachel play punched his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm just sayin'," he said with a laugh. "But seriously, I'm here for you. I mean, you're my baby mama, and I'll protect you no matter what."

Quinn never thought she'd be so thankful for Puck. He turned to Rachel.

"And we've been going to temple together since we were like five. Aint nobody gonna touch my Jew-Berry. Well, except Fabray," he said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Pig," Quinn said, pulling him into a hug in which Rachel joined.

"Yeah, we're all here for you," Mercedes added. "We're a family and family protects each other."

Quinn never really knew that until her father left, so she couldn't help but agree. She was so grateful for glee, for her mother and above all, for Rachel.

She kind of felt invincible, like she could do anything.

* * *

**Songs:**

**-Lost Inside of You – Barbra Streisand**

**-I Got You Babe – Sonny & Cher  
**

**I hope you liked their duet song choice. It just warms my heart. A classic!**

**So, who's excited for Glee tonight! And can we take a moment to talk about the cuteness that is Achele during Glee Live? So adorable.**

**Anyway, so thank you so much for all of your reviews and kind words! I appreciate them so much. Keep them up!**


	17. Quitting and Committing

Friday night's football game saw many stares had by the football team, the rest of the cheerios, the pep band and even some parents.

But Quinn couldn't care less. She was on cloud nine. She was finally free of secrets and she felt absolutely amazing being able to holding Rachel's hand in public.

"Everybody is staring," Rachel said as they walked towards the field, pre-game.

"They're just jealous that I'm dating the star of the glee club and you bagged the head cheerleader," the blonde joked, causing Rachel to giggle and squeeze her hand even tighter.

"Did I just hear you say 'banged the head cheerleader'?"

A wild Puck appears!

"Aren't you supposed to be on the field?" Quinn asked, clearly wanting him to leave.

Puck just shrugged and continued walking with them. Quinn could be blunt if she really needed to be.

"Puck, go away."

"Hey, if you're gonna make out, I'm staying to watch," he said, suddenly jumping in front of them, causing them to stop.

"Noah, please be considerate," Rachel said. Quinn growled at him.

He put his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, I get it," he said, smiling. "I respect it."

And with that, he was gone. He really was a decent guy.

The two girls finally made it to the field as everybody was filing into the bleachers. Rachel wouldn't have even considered going to a football game if it weren't for Quinn. Was it acceptable to attend the game simply to cheer on the cheerleaders? Or at least one of the cheerleaders?

"Fabray! Get over here!" Sue growled over the rest of the crowd.

The cheerleader turned around to acknowledge her coach before she turned back to Rachel, still holding her hand.

"I'm going to kiss you now," Quinn said, smiling.

Rachel nodded, suddenly excited.

"In public," she added.

Rachel couldn't help but smile. She had been waiting for the day that she could claim Quinn Fabray as her's, publicly. Rachel didn't _need_public displays of affection. But she was in a blissful relationship with her perfect girl and she damn sure wanted everybody to know how lucky she was.

"So, kiss me."

Lips met in a brief but sweet kiss. They couldn't care less who was watching.

Quinn broke away, winked at Rachel and ran over to Coach Sylvester.

"Fabray, if you ever make me wait more than 15 seconds again, I will personally light your house on fire."

Quinn was indifferent. Nothing but empty threats. Like she'd actually light her house on fire...

Wait, would she?

"Now listen up," Sue said, dropping her voice and leaning in towards Quinn. "If your frolic through the woodland creature's meadow is going to affect your cheering, you will be removed from the squad, do you understand me?"

Face scrunched up, Quinn looked at her coach with confusion.

"God, I can't believe my head cheerleader is dating the head midget of glee club," Sue said to herself, venom dripping from her lips as she said the last two words.

Light bulb. Quinn understood.

"Coach, if you really consider my relationship with Rachel to be a hazard to your squad, maybe I should just quit," she said, faking nice.

Sue's eyes widened for a split second before she put on a stern face. If Quinn had blinked, she would have missed the look of desperation. She knew that she was the best on the squad. That's why Sue had made her captain. Leaving would crush the cheerio's hopes of winning another competition, especially Nationals.

"You wouldn't, I own you."

Quinn smiled.

"Watch me," she said, stating to walk away from Sue.

"Get back here, blondie! You can quit when you die!"

She rolled her eyes and turned back towards her coach.

"I really don't need cheerios. Cheerios needs me. It stopped being fun the moment I became captain," Quinn said, sternly. "Wow, I can't believe I'm saying this," she said to herself, thinking she'd never see this day.

Sue looked angrier than ever.

"I quit the squad," Quinn said, actually feeling relief in that sentence. She looked happier within seconds. Smiling, she turned and walked away from Sue who was turning as red as her track suit.

"Quinn, what are you doing?" Rachel asked, when Quinn grabbed her hand and started to drag her away from the field.

The blonde didn't reply, she just kept on going, passing the opposing football team. The game was just about to start and she had just quit. It was kind of thrilling.

"Quinn?"

When they reached the parking lot, Quinn let go of Rachel's hand and turned to face her, looking quite pleased with herself.

"What happened?" Rachel asked, thinking Quinn was kicked off the cheerios. She hoped it wasn't because of her.

"I quit the cheerios," she said, simply.

The diva looked at her as if she were dreaming. Surely Quinn was joking. The one thing that put her at the top, the one thing that gave her a name, she was letting go? No way.

"I quit," she repeated, loving the way it sounded.

"A-are you okay with that?" Rachel was pretty confused.

Quinn grinned. "I am definitely okay with it."

The now ex-cheerleader grabbed Rachel's hand, pulling her flush against her body. Rachel blushed at the sudden contact , remembering they were in the parking lot with other students. She started to pull away as she was accustomed to having to hide their relationship. Quinn's grip tightened and the other girl relaxed, smiling. The lingering students made their way down the hill and out of sight.

Moving strands of hair out of Rachel's face and tucking it behind her ear, she slowly led them to Quinn's car.

"Turns out I don't actually _need_cheerleading," she said, amused. She propped herself against the driver's side door and pulled Rachel into her again, loving the way her body rested against her own.

"But you love it!"

She shook her head.

"Used to. But now I love you," Quinn said with a smile before her mind took the time to process her words.

Rachel's eyes went wide and Quinn went into a silent panic.

"You do?" Rachel looked like she was about to cry.

'_Way to go, Fabray.'_

There was no turning back now.

Quinn nodded, suddenly more self conscious than she's ever been in her entire life. Ever.

"I do, Rachel. I love you so much," she said, her voice wavering as if she were ready to cry. "You're the first person I ever really had these feelings for... and it's kind of scary because they are _so _strong. But it's thrilling... being in love with you."

Tears were welling up in the blonde's eyes. When did Quinn Fabray start to care so much?

"You're..._in_love with me?"

She suddenly found Rachel's expression hard to read.

Rachel's lips were slightly parted and she looked up at Quinn through huge, glistening brown eyes.

"I'm in love with you...very much so," Quinn said, a tear sliding down her cheek. She was so afraid she was beginning to scare Rachel away. It was way too early for this, wasn't it? But she stayed positioned in the same place, right up against Quinn's now trembling body.

Would this be an inappropriate time to pray?

Instantly, Rachel's lips were on Quinn's. She brought her hands up the the blonde's face, cupping her cheeks. Giggling a little, she felt Quinn relax. Lips moved perfectly together while the shorter girl slid her tongue over Quinn's bottom lip.

A shiver ran up Quinn's spine. She secretly loved when Rachel did that.

As if she even needed permission, Rachel waited as Quinn parted her lips, giving her access. Their tongues softly met before Rachel couldn't handle it anymore. She took Quinn's lower lip into her mouth, slightly sucking it before tugging on it with her teeth and releasing it.

Their foreheads rested together for a second before Rachel pulled back to look in Quinn's eyes.

"I love you," Rachel said without any hesitation.

She was slightly taken aback. Honestly, she hadn't expected to hear it in return.

"You do?" She felt like a dork for asking.

Rachel smiled as tears stained her face.

"So much, Quinn," she said, stroking the other girl's cheek with her thumb. "I really do."

The blonde couldn't help but cry. It would be an understatement to say she was happy. Words don't deserve to describe what she was feeling.

Rachel wiped away Quinn's tears before taking a hand to her own.

"I've wanted to tell you for a while," Rachel admitted. "But I was just so afraid you didn't feel the same."

She wanted to laugh at that. How could she not feel the same?

"Look at us," Rachel said, laughing a little.

Quinn laughed along with her before kissing her again, this time with something that wasn't there before. A few of their tears ran down their cheeks, mixing together as they reached lips. Rachel's hand slid down Quinn's jaw line before gently grazing her neck, coming to a rest on her collarbone. The blonde moaned slightly into the kiss.

Reluctantly, Rachel pulled back, attempting desperately to gain her composure, but she was only thinking of one thing.

"Let's go," she said, suddenly.

Looking slightly confused, Quinn asked where she wanted to go.

"Home. I don't care which one," she whispered into her ear. 

* * *

**Well, hey that took longer than I thought. Also, I know I suck because it's so short, but something is better than nothing, mind you. I keep getting distracted. Especially by a man with a paintbrush named Bob Ross. I don't understand.**

Also by the fact that I saw Glee Live in Chicago on Friday and I saw Achele first hand! I thought I was going to actually pass out. They were SO fucking cute. And then there was Lea Michele (an angel walking on earth) who was literally a foot away from me. Can I just say that when she looked into my eyes, we fell in love? But really, I nearly died when it happened. And she signed my CD insert. BEST NIGHT EVER. 

**Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Reviews make me so happy, I could puke rainbows, so leave me some of those! I love you all, very much!**


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